■a/ 


Yl^/ui'frxu/y  W*  '((Ui/i^c. 


^*-^^?>e^     — ^ 


\  '  -^/n.^  ^^^ 


EXPLANATORY    NOTE. 


Thin  Map  iss  designed  t( 
illustrate  the  Transvaal  in 
regard  to  neighbouring  ter- 
ritories. 

The  portions  marked  with  heavy  black 

lines  (  )  are  those  which  the 

Transvaal  Government  have  endeavounii 


to  obtain  the  control  of  since  the  signing^ 
and  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of,  the 
Conventions  of  Pretoria  and  London. 

The   portions   marked   with   light   red 
linps  (  ■■■—  )  show  what  Ihey  have 

succeeded  in  acquiring — with  the  eventual 
consent  of  England — since  the  signing  of 
the  Pretoria  Convention. 


THE    TRANSVAAL   FROM   WITHIN 

Mbat  XTwo  statesmen  Sa^. 

Mr.  Chamberlain,  replying  to  a  Westmoreland  correspondent,  who  complained 
of  the  want  of  a  printed  defence  of  the  Government's  policy  in  the  Transvaal, 
wrote,  *  I  refer  you  to  Mr.  FitzPatrick's  book.' 

Lord  Rosebery  at  Bath  :  *  A  book  which  seems  to  me  to  bear  on  every  page 
and  in  every  sentence  the  mark  of  truth,  which  gives  you  wholesale  and  in  detail 
an  extraordinary,  and,  I  think  I  may  say,  an  appalling  record  of  the  way  in  which 
the  Government  of  the  Transvaal  was  carried  on  and  the  subjection  to  which  it 
reduced  our  fellow-countrymen  there. ' 

Some  press  ©pinions* 

The  Times  (leading  article) :  *  It  will  be  found  a  mine  of  information  concern- 
ing the  recent  history  of  the  Transvaal,  and  will  probably  prove  very  surprising  to 
people  who  have  not  paid  close  attention  to  the  subject.' 

The  Times  :  '  Mr.  FitzPatrick's  book  supplies  a  want  which  has  been  widely 
felt.  For  the  first  time,  the  information  which  everyone  has  been  asking  for,  and 
which  nobody  has  been  able  to  obtain,  with  regard  to  the  common  facts  of  con- 
temporary Transvaal  history,  is  collected  in  a  volume  convenient  for  reference  and 
easy  to  read.  Mr.  FitzPatrick  puts  his  facts  before  the  public  with  a  moderation 
and  simplicity  of  statement  which  add  greatly  to  the  force  of  an  agreeable  style. 
He  is  not  without  appreciation  of  the  finer  side  of  the  Boer  character.  .  .  . 
Nothing  that  has  been  written  upon  the  Transvaal  brings  the  conditions  of  life 
there  so  clearly  before  English  readers.  Mr.  FitzPatrick  lays  his  arguments  boldly 
and  simply  before  his  readers,  but  it  is  in  the  facts  of  the  book — facts  never  before 
brought  together  in  so  convenient  a  form — that  the  most  powerful  of  all  arguments 
will  be  found.  Few  readers  will  lay  down  the  volume  without  feeling  that  they 
know  more  than  they  have  ever  known  before  of  the  real  issues  on  trial  in  South 
Africa. ' 

The  Spectator :  '  It  can  be  claimed  for  Mr.  FitzPatrick  that  he  states  facts  and 
not  prejudices,  that  he  is  not  blinded  by  hatred,  and  that  he  sees  the  necessity  of 
meeting  arguments  by  arguments,  and  not  by  mere  rhetoric.  He  does  not  merely 
censure  the  Boers,  but  shows  how  and  why  the  Outlanders  have  found  it  impossible 
to  live  under  their  rule,  and  why  they  prefer  to  risk  the  ruin  of  their  lives  and 
fortunes  to  submitting  to  continued  misgovernment.  All  who  desire  to  under- 
stand the  case  of  the  Outlanders  should  read  Mr.  FitzPatrick's  book — a  book 
which,  we  may  add,  is  written  throughout  with  no  little  literary  skill,  and  is 
uniformly  as  sane  and  manly  in  style  as  it  is  interesting  and  valuable  in  matter.' 

The  Saturday  Review :  *  Mr.  FitzPatrick's  book  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
everyone  who  wishes  to  understand  both  the  causes  that  have  led  up  to  the  present 
war  and  the  character  of  Great  Britain's  chief  enemy.  Mr.  FitzPatrick  has  him- 
self played  no  inconsiderable  part  in  some  of  the  transactions  which  he  describes, 
and  he  knows  the  Transvaal  and  its  rulers  as  he  knows  the  palm  of  his  hand. 
Apart  from  the  documentary  and  original  evidence  as  to  the  history,  the  book  is 
invaluable  and  intensely  interesting  on  account  of  the  striking  portrait  which  it 
gives  of  Mr.  President  Paul  Kruger.  That  is  the  central  figure  of  the  canvas,  and 
Mr.  FitzPatrick  has  spared  no  pains  in  filling  in  its  minutest  details. ' 

The  Standard  :  *  Mr.  FitzPatrick  is  particularly  well  qualified  to  describe  to  us 
the  inner  working  of  the  South  African  Republic.  He  writes  as  a  South  African 
by  birth,  a  resident  in  the  Transvaal  from  1884,  and  Secretary  of  the  Johannesburg 
Reform  Committee.  He  could  scarcely  have  devoted  the  three  years'  banishment 
to  which  he  was  sentenced  after  the  discharge  of  the  Reform  leaders  from  Pretoria 
gaol  to  a  better  purpose  than  the  preparation  of  this  book.  It  is  a  clear  statement 
of  the  case  of  the  Uitlanders.     At  the  same  time  Mr.  FitzPatrick  keeps  his  feelings 


Some  iptesa  ©pintons  {continued). 

well  in  hand.  He  has  striven,  not  without  success,  to  be  just  to  his  Boer  oppo- 
nents. The  book  deserves  serious  attention,  particularly  from  those  who  may  still 
doubt  whether  the  Boer  oligarchy  merits  the  extinction  by  which  it  is  threatened.' 
The  World  :  '  It  is  to  be  warmly  commended  to  the  personal  perusal  of  all  who 
desire  a  temperate,  lucid,  and  minutely  detailed  account  of  the  various  stages  in 
the  history  of  that  persistent  course  of  tyranny  and  misgovernment  which  is  about 
to  be  overtaken  by  its  all  too  tardy  Nemesis.  A  good  deal  of  fresh  light  is  thrown 
upon  the  circumstances  attending  the  inception  of  the  Jameson  Raid,  its  failure, 
and  the  subsequent  experiences  of  the  Reformers  at  the  hands  of  their  gaolers. 
At  all  points  of  his  narrative  Mr.  FitzPatrick  writes  with  dispassionate  calmness. 
The  numerous  appendices  are  of  the  utmost  utility,  and  contribute  materially  to 
the  instructive  value  of  a  work  which  should  be  in  everyone's  hands  at  the  present 
juncture.' 

The  Outlook  :  *  The  writer  is  before  all  things  just.  Nothing  is  here  extenuated 
or  aught  set  down  in  malice.  Let  all  our  readers  turn  to  Mr.  FitzPatrick.  To 
read  this  private  record  of  public  affairs  is  a  duty  which  they  owe  to  themselves  as 
citizens,  and  Mr.  FitzPatrick's  fortunate  endowment  makes  that  duty  pleasant.' 

The  Academy :  *  Mr.  FitzPatrick  has  handled  with  skill  the  mass  of  complica- 
tions which  have  attended  the  Outlanders'  struggles  to  be  free  ;  and  all  who  desire 
to  know  what  has  led  up  to  the  extraordinary  birth-card  the  Transvaal  President 
sent  us  on  October  lo  should  read  this  book.' 

The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  :  '  The  book  of  the  hour— the  most  notable  history  of 
the  Transvaal  that  has  ever  been  written.  We  commend  it  to  every  Englishman 
whose  heart  is  in  the  welfare  of  his  country.' 

The  Daily  News  :  '  Any  reader  who  desires  to  realize  the  Uitlanders'  point  of 
view  should  carefully  read  this  book.  He  will  learn  from  it  how  galling  the  con- 
ditions are  to  free-born  Britons,  and  how  sick  at  heart  they  had  become  from 
hopes  perpetually  deferred  and  promises  never  fulfilled.' 

The  Daily  Mail :  '  A  work  which  should  be  studied  by  all  those  rightly  wishing 
to  understand  the  vital  questions  now  at  issue.  Mr.  FitzPatrick  has  the  gift  of  a 
sympathetic  touch  :  he  is  a  graphic  chronicler.  The  book  is  cramful  of  telling 
incidents  and  facts.' 

The  St.  James's  Gazette  :  '  A  very  valuable  contribution  to  the  proper  under- 
standing of  the  problems  now  awaiting  solution  in  South  Africa.  Mr.  FitzPatrick 
sketches  briefly  but  boldly,  and  with  sympathetic  pen,  the  history  of  the  Boers 
from  the  time  of  the  great  Trek.  A  completeness  is  thus  given  to  the  picture  for 
which  readers  of  this  book — and  they  ought  to  be  numerpjis — will  be  grateful.' 

The  Globe  :  *  The  volume  contains  much  which  is  of  the  highest  possible  value 
historically  and  of  the  greatest  present  interest.  A  full  account  of  the  Reform 
movement  is  given,  and  of  the  Raid,  some  of  the  information  being  absolutely  new. 
The  book  is  written  in  a  pleasant  literary  style.  It  is  couched  in  somewhat 
rhetorical  language,  and  is  written  sometimes  eloquently  and  always  picturesquely. 
It  is,  in  short,  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  easiest  to  read  and  one  of  the  most  in- 
forming of  all  the  books  which  have  been  written  on  the  complicated  Transvaal 
problem. 

The  Newcastle  Daily  Chronicle  :  '  We  heartily  wish  that  Mr.  FitzPatrick's 
book  were  in  the  hands  of  every  Englishman  at  the  existing  juncture.  It  is 
pre-eminently  the  volume  to  be  read  and  re-read  by  all  who  wish  to  grasp  the  facts 
of  the  South  African  difficulty.  Mr.  FitzPatrick  deals  with  facts,  and  were  the 
facts  which  he  narrates  with  great  literary  skill  as  well  known  to  the  English 
people  as  they  are  to  him,  no  politician  would  dare  to  mount  a  public  platform 
and  ask  what  has  happened  that  we  should  go  to  war  with  the  Transvaal.' 

London  : 
WILLIAM  HEINEMANN,  21,  Bedford  Street,  W.C. 


THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 


•-  ;t:- 


*  //  you  wish  to  read  a  history  of  the  internal 
economy  of  the  Transvaal^  I  would  simply  suggest 
that  you  should  procure  a  book  called  **  The  Trans- 
vaal from  Within y'  by  Mr.  Fitz Patrick,  who  was 
a  denizen  of  the  Transvaal,  and  much  interested  in 
its  progress — a  book  which  seems  to  me  to  bear  on 
every  page,  and  in  every  sentence,  the  mark  of 
truth,  and  which  gives  you  wholesale,  and  in  detail, 
an  extraordinary,  and,  I  think  I  may  say,  an 
appalling  record  of  the  way  in  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Transvaal  was  carried  on,  and  the 
subjection  to  which  it  reduced  our  fellow-country- 
men there,' 

Extract  from  Lord  Rosebery's  Great 
Speech  at  Bath. 


THE    TRANSVAAL 

FROM    WITHIN 

A  PRIVATE  RECORD  OF  PUBLIC  AFFAIRS 


T.  P.   FITZPATRICK 

Author  of  '  The  Outspan  ' 


popular  BMtton 

WITH    A    NEW    INTRODUCTION    AND    MAP 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK   A.   STOKES    COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

1900 


Printed  in  England 


4«.-,«K  .-'•»*»*» 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

(WITH   A   map) 

Since  the  publication  of  this  volume  war  has  broken  out  under  circum- 
stances which  go  far  to  justify  the  view  so  often  expressed  by  British 
South  Africans — that  the  policy  and  aspirations  of  the  Transvaal  were 
aggressive  and  not  defensive,  and  which  even  seem  to  warrant  the 
belief  that  the  Imperial  Government  were  deliberately  manoeuvred  into 
a  position  which  the  governing  clique  at  Pretoria,  and  their  accomplice, 
President  Steyn,  were  able  to  represent  to  the  burghers  of  both 
republics  as  threatening  their  independence.  It  was  essential  to  the 
Transvaal  that  the  defensive  alliance  with  the  Orange  Free  State  should 
become  an  offensive  one  as  weU,  a  change  which  Mr.  Steyn  had  un- 
ceasingly urged,  but  which  the  people  of  the  Free  State  had  steadily 
resisted.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  a  critical  stage  in  the  negotia- 
tions President  Steyn  publicly  charged  Mr.  Conyngham  Greene  with 
bad  faith  in  having  drawn  from  the  Transvaal  Government  a  proposal 
which  the  Imperial  Government  had  no  intention  of  accepting.  The 
memoranda  and  letters  which  passed  between  Mr.  Conyngham  Greene 
and  Mr.  Smuts  (the  Transvaal  State  Attorney)  totally  disprove  the 
accusation.  Mr.  Steyn  had,  or  could  have  had,  access  to  these  records. 
Nevertheless  the  charge  was  made,  and  the  visible  result  was  that  the 
Orange  Free  State  unreservedly  threw  in  its  lot  with  the  Transvaal. 
Before  any  demands,  requests  or  suggestions — such  as  might  have  been 
based  upon  treaty  rights  or  fiduciary  responsibilities — had  been  made 
by  the  Imperial  Government,  the  amazing  ultimatum  was  dehvered  by 
the  Transvaal  to  Great  Britain ;  war  was  declared  within  forty-  eight 
hours  ;  Natal,  Cape  Colony  and  Bechuanaland  were  invaded ;  and  a 
condition  of  preparedness  and  extent  of  equipment  were  revealed  which 
plainly  indicated  a  long,  secret,  and  determined  preparation  for  a 
struggle  with  the  paramount  power.  The  Boers  themselves,  whUst 
protesting  that  their  aim  was  defence  only,  do  not  deny  that  their 
preparations  were  directed  against  England ;  but  even  apart  from  this, 
after  the  revelations  of  the  past  four  months,  the  suggestion  that  they 
had  merely  prepared  against  a  repetition  of  the  Jameson  Raid  is  not 
worth  discussing. 

The  publication  of  this  volume  has  elicited  many  comments  and 

514497 


vi  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

suggestions  which  show  that  the  necessity  for  compression,  and  the 
assumption  that  matters  which  are  of  common  knowledge  in  South 
Africa  would  also  be  known  elsewhere,  are  responsible  for  the  omission 
of  much  evidence  which  was  available,  and  perhaps  ought  to  have  been 
produced.  No  one  knows  this  better  or  feels  it  more  keenly  than  the 
writer,  but  it  is  impossible,  without  exceeding  reasonable  limits,  to  deal 
with  everything,  and  the  present  addition  to  the  volume  is  therefore 
confined  to  a  brief  elucidation  of  one  very  important  and  much-debated 
question — Why  did  the  Transvaal  arm  against  England  ? 

For  a  special  reason  that  question  had  better  be  considered  under  two 
sub -he  ads  in  the  following  order : 

1.  When  did  the  Transvaal  determine  upon  the  policy  of  arming  ? 

2.  What  were  the  aspirations  of  the  Transvaal  ? 

The  special  reason  for  this  subdivision  is  that  friends  and  agents  of 
the  Transvaal  Government  aspiring  to  instruct  public  opinion  prefer  to 
avoid  detailed  examination  of  the  facts  and  the  dates,  their  object  being 
that  the  one  answer  to  everything  may  be  '  The  Jameson  Eaid.'  Had 
there  been  no  raid,  the  question  of  when  arming  was  determined  upon 
would  have  been  of  no  importance ;  obviously,  therefore,  if  it  can  be 
shown  that  the  arming  was  not  caused  by  the  Baid,  that  incident  has 
no  longer  any  bearing  upon  the  main  question.  All  that  needs  to  be 
shown  is  that,  prior  to  and  apart  from  the  Eaid,  the  Transvaal  Govern- 
ment 7iad  the  intention  to  arm  upon  a  scale  not  warranted  by  their 
necessities.  The  whole  question  might  be  disposed  of  by  quoting  one 
paragraph  from  the  manifesto  issued  by  the  Chairman  of  the  National 
Union  as  the  justification  of  the  Keform  movement  (see  Appendix  I). 
It  was  pubhshed  on  December  27,  1895,  and  Dr.  Jameson  started  two 
days  later.     The  paragraph  is  as  follows  : 

The  Policy  of  Forcf,. 

'  We  no\s  have  openly  the  policy  of  force  revealed  to  us.  £250,000  is  to  be 
spent  upon  the  completing  of  a  fort^  at  Pretoria,  £100,000  is  to  be  spent  upon 
a  fort  to  terrorize  the  inhabitants  of  Johannesburg,  large  orders  are  sent  to 
Krupp's  for  big  guns,  Maxims  have  been  ordered,  and  we  are  even  told  that 
German  officers  are  coming  out  to  drill  the  burghers.  Are  these  things 
necessary,  or  are  they  calculated  to  irritate  the  feeling  to  breaking-point? 
What  necessity  is  there  for  forts  in  peaceful  inland  towns  ?  Why  should  the 
Government  endeavour  to  keep  us  in  subjection  to  unjust  laws  by  the  power 
of  the  sword  instead  of  making  themselves  live  in  the  heart  of  the  people  by 
a  broad  policy  of  justice  V 

When  the  apologists  for  the  Transvaal  were  confronted  with  this 
evidence  they  changed  their  ground ;  they  adopted  the  very  effectite 
tactics  of  their  proteges,  and  retreated  to  another  defensive  position. 
Now  they  no  longer  claim  that  arming  commenced  after  the  Eaid,  but 

1  This  is  not  the  barrack  referred  to  on  p.  98  in  this  volume  as  the 
Pretoria  Fort,  but  a  new  one  which  was  not  completed  or  occupied  at  the 
time  of  the  Raid. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  vii 

that  it  commenced  some  months  earlier,  when  it  first  became  known 
that  arms  were  being  smuggled  into  Johannesburg  and  troops  collected 
on  the  border  in  preparation  for  the  Eaid.  Apart  from  the  obvious 
answer  that,  had  the  fact  of  the  smuggling  in  of  arms  been  known,  it 
would  have  been  exposed  and  punished  at  once,  this  defence  is  a  more 
daring,  not  to  say  dangerous,  one  than  Mr.  Kruger  or  his  colleagues 
have  ever  ventured  on.  Their  grievance  is  that  they  were  unexpectedly 
attacked,  and  their  defence  that  they  began  to  arm  afterwards.  They 
do  not  admit  that  they  connived  at  or  nursed  the  Kaid,  having  prepared 
for  it  beforehand. 

But  there  is  the  evidence  of  acknowledged  facts.  The  first  importa- 
tion of  arms  by  the  Eeform  Committee  took  place  in  December,  1895  ; 
Dr.  Jameson's  first  order  in  connection  with  the  mobilization  of  his  men 
was  given  in  Bulawayo  on  October  20, 1895.  It  needs  no  expert  to  say 
whether  all  the  work  in  connection  with  the  erection  of  a  fort — which 
now  proves  to  be  but  one  item  in  a  large  scheme — the  employment  of 
trusty  experts,  the  survey  and  choice  of  site,  the  preparation  and 
approval  of  plans,  and  the  actual  construction,  could  be  accomplished 
in  the  space  of  ten  weeks,  or  in  five  times  ten  weeks.  The  statements 
in  the  manifesto  about  the  ordering  of  cannon,  and  the  employment  of 
German  military  instructors,  are  conclusive  proof  of  this,  at  least,  that 
the  Uitlanders  had  heard  of  and  believed  these  things  before  the  Raid 
took  place.  Subsequent  events  have  shown  that  their  apprehensions 
were  more  than  justified,  and  the  suggestion  that  this  was  merely  a 
coincidence  will  scarcely  be  accepted.  It  is  clearly  almost  impossible 
to  produce  direct  evidence  as  to  when  orders  for  armaments  were 
placed,  such  evidence  being  in  the  hands  of  the  Transvaal  Government 
and  their  agents  alone  ;  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  marshal  in  con- 
vincing form  the  scraps  of  evidence  and  the  daily  little  experiences 
the  impact  of  which  formed  that  clear  and  positive  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  the  Uitlanders,  expressed  in  the  manifesto.  The  fact 
remains  that  there  did  exist  the  belief  that  for  some  sinister  purpose 
the  Transvaal  Government  had  determined  upon  a  very  extensive 
scheme  of  arming.  The  description  of  the  Transvaal  armaments  given 
in  this  volume  (see  p.  98)  has  repeatedly  been  quoted  as  proving 
that  the  intention  to  arm  did  not  antedate  the  Eaid.  It  proves  nothing 
of  the  kind.  If  taken  side  by  side  with  the  manifesto,  it  merely  shows 
that  the  Reformers  believed  that  they  knew  what  arms,  etc.,  had  already 
been  received  in  Pretoria,  and  knew  also  that  more  were  coming,  and 
they  were  determined  to  move  before  the  Transvaal  Government  could 
complete  their  plans.  A  mass  of  indirect  evidence  could  be  compiled 
from  the  Uitlander  press,  showing  the  puzzled  speculations  and  half- 
formed  suspicions  and  apprehensions  of  the  community,  founded  upon 
the  extraordinary  secret  expenditure  of  the  Government,  the  vague 
hints  and  threats  running  through  Volksraad  proceedings,  and  the 
well-remembered  public  utterances   of   such  prominent  men   as  the 


vui  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

President,  General  Joubert,  Eailway  Commissioner  Smit,  and  Execu- 
tive Member  Kock ;  but  more  interesting  than  these  will  be  found  the 
returns  of  expenditure  for  the  years  before  and  after  the  Raid.  The 
subjoined  figures,  taken  from  the  Staats  Courant  (Government 
Gazette),  show  the  amounts  expended  under  the  heads  of  '  Mihtary,' 
'  Public  Works,'  '  Special  Expenditure,'  and  '  Sundry  Services.'  As  it 
is  known  that  the  entry  '  Military '  does  not  cover  those  military  pre- 
parations which  were  designed  to  be  kept  secret,  and  as  no  information 
has  been  vouchsafed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  other  entries,  every 
reader  must  form  his  own  judgment  upon  the  subject : 


Full  Year. 

MiUtary        .. 
Public  worka 
Special  payments 
Sundry  services    .. 

1893. 

& 

.      19,340 

,     200,106 

148,981 

,     132,132 

1894. 
& 

28,158 
260,962 
330,181 
163,547 

1895. 
£ 

87,308 
853,724 
205,335 

95,278 

1896. 

.  & 

495,618 
701,022 
682,008 
128,724 

1897. 

£ 

396,384 

1,012,866 

248,684 

135,345 

1898. 
£ 
857,225 
535,502 
211,910 
148,873 

Totals    .. 

.     500,559 

782,848 

741,645 

2,007,372 

1,793,279 

1,253,510 

As  instancing  the  need  for  explanation,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the 
suicide  of  a  prominent  official  was  the  cause  of  bringing  to  light  the 
facts  that  one  sum  of  ^6500,000  (five  hundred  thousand  pounds)  was 
secretly  transferred  to  an  agent  in  Europe  for  purposes  unknown  in 

1894,  and  that  this  was  by  no  means  the  only  or  even  first  payment. 
Incomparably  the  greatest  increase  in  expenditure   took   place  in 

1896,  after  the  Raid.  Some  of  this  was  known  to  have  been  contracted 
for  months  before  the  Raid,  but  how  much  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The 
belief  that  the  detennination  to  arm  dates  back  to  some  period  prior 
even  to  1895,  and  was  not  hastily  arrived  at  during  that  year,  is  sup- 
ported by  the  Estimates  for  the  financial  year  January  to  December, 

1895,  which  were  passed  by  the  Volksraad,  and  must  have  been 
approved  in  principle  by  the  Government  some  considerable  time 
before.  The  estimates  and  the  actual  expenditure  are  given  side  by 
side,  and  show  the  sums  set  aside  and  spent  in  that  year  already  for 
undisclosed  purposes. 

1895. 

Bstimated  Actual 

Expenditure.  Expenditure. 

£  £ 

Military         ...         175,248  87,308 

Public  works            458,975  353,724 

Special  payments      169,100  205,335 

Sundry  services        ...         ,..       85,051  95,278 


Totals        ...     888,374  741,645 

In  the  ordinary  session  of  1895  the  'report  of  the  Commandant- 
General  to  the  Volksraad  threw  some  light  on  the  operations  of  the 
previous  year.    The  following  extract  is  from  the  Preaa,  Pretoria : 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  ix 

Report  of  the  Sitting  of  the  First  Raad,  Monday,  ArausT  26. 

After  several  Second  Raad  resolutions  had  been  passed,  the  report  of  the 
Commandant-General  was  placed  on  the  order  afresh. 

Re  the  13,000  Martini-Henry  guns  imported  last  year  (1894)  by  the 
Government  for  distribution  amongst  the  burghers,  it  appeared  from  the  report 
that  5,396  of  these  guns  had  been  sold  for  cash,  3,925  had  been  sold  on  credit, 
and  327  had  been  given  gratis  to  poor  burghers.  At  the  end  of  1894  there 
were  still  653  guns  available  for  distribution,  and  1,812  guns  in  reserve  in  the 
central  magazine  in  Pretoria. 

It  further  appeared  from  the  same  section  of  the  report  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  ordered  3,000  improved  Austrian  rifles  of  the  Guedes  pattern. 
These  guns  had  been  tried,  and  had  given  satisfaction. 

From  this  it  appears  that  by  the  end  of  1894  all  the  burghers  had 
been  supplied  with  new  rifles.  The  Uitlanders  even  then  complained 
that  every  burgher  had  already  owned  one  rifle,  and  could  not  possibly 
require  two  ;  notwithstanding  this,  however,  it  appears  {vide  p.  98) 
that  at  the  end  of  1895  there  were  again  10,000  rifles  in  the  central 
magazine  alone. 

The  point  being,  not  when  forts  were  built  or  munitions  were 
delivered,  but  when  the  arming  policy  was  determined  on,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  returns  of  expenditure  deal  with  sums  actually 
paid  out  in  the  year  named,  and  it  is  certain  that  a  good  deal  of  time 
must  have  been  occupied  in  the  investigations,  experiments  and 
negotiations  between  the  time  when  the  policy  was  determined  upon 
and  the  date  of  placing  the  orders  for  cannons  and  rifles  and  the  con- 
struction of  forts,  and  many  months  must  have  passed  before  the  orders 
were  completed.  The  real  and  only  question  is,  When  did  the  Trans- 
vaal determine  to  arm  ?  or,  to  meet  the  point  of  controversy.  Was  the 
policy  of  arming  determined  upon  before  and  apart  from  the  Eaid, 
or  not  ? 

We  come  now  to  question  number  two.  What  were  the  aspirations 
of  the  Transvaal  ? 

The  South  African  Dutch  are  a  people  slow  to  change,  and  they  have 
clung  with  characteristic  pertinacity  to  their  aspu-ations  as  to  their 
habits.  The  aspiration  of  the  race  is  well  known — the  United  States 
of  South  Africa,  dominated  by  the  Dutch  party  under  a  South  African 
flag,  and  with  Dutch  as  the  predominant  language.  There  are  many 
of  the  Dutch  in  the  Cape  Colony — or,  at  any  rate,  there  were  before 
feelings  became  embittered  by  the  present  war,  who  do  not  share  this 
aim  at  all.  There  are  others  who,  whilst  entertaining  the  aspiration, 
would  bitterly  resent  the  charge  that  they  participated  in  a  conspiracy 
or  a  plot,  or  entertained  disloyal  aims.  Their  defence  would  be  that  it 
is  a  legitimate  aspiration,  and  that  they  would  only  countenance  its 
achievement  by  '  constitutional  means,'  as  the  Afrikander  Bond  in  its 
official  declarations  describes  its  procedure,  and  by  consent  of  Great 
Britain,  with  whom  they  would  hope  to  preserve  always  the  most 
friendly  relations.     It  is  quite  possible  that  some  have  been  genuine  in 


X       INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

this  belief,  but  it  follows,  then,  that,  if  so,  they  did  not  see  how  they 
were  being  made  use  of  by  others,  who  were  not  so  particular  as  to  the 
means  by  which  their  ambition  should  be  gratified. 

The  pursuit  of  this  one  ambition  by  different  men,  at  different 
periods,  under  different  forms  of  government,  means  that  in  some 
cases  an  effort  was  being  made  which  to  the  disinterested  observer 
would  appear  to  be  a  perfectly  legitimate  one  ;  whilst  in  other  cases 
it  is  clear  that  the  circumstances  of  the  individual  or  community  were 
not  consistent  with  the  pursuit  of  this  ambition.  Thus  it  is  well, 
when  viewing  the  whole  movement,  to  consider  the  matter  as  broadly 
as  possible  and  in  the  least  offensive  aspect.  Charges  of  treason  and 
conspiracy  are  unnecessary.  It  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  aim  of 
the  Transvaal  has  been  to  subvert  the  Imperial  authority  and  expel 
the  Imperial  power,  and  that  the  sympathetic  attitude  of  the  Bond, 
however  human  it  may  be,  has  been  used  to  draw  British  subjects  into 
a  dangerous  course  and  has  led  them  to  coquet  with  an  ambition 
which  the  British  half  of  the  population  and  the  British  Empire  will 
resist  at  all  costs. 

When  Lord  Carnarvon's  Federation  scheme  was  first  proposed, 
President  Brand  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  a  man  actuated  by  friend- 
ship for  England  and  devoted,  to  the  cause  of  peace,  remarked :  '  His 
great  scheme  is  a  United  South  Africa  under  the  British  flag.  He 
dreams  of  it ;  so  do  I,  but  under  the  flag  of  South  Africa.'  When 
President  Burgers  was  endeavouring  to  carry  out  his  Delagoa  Bay 
railway  scheme,  he,  too,  repeatedly  pictured  a  United  South  Africa 
under  the  Dutch  flag — an  independent  child  of  Holland  extending  her 
glory  and  her  commerce.  Addressing  a  gathering  of  his  countrymen 
in  Holland,  he  said  : 

In  that  far-off  country  the  inhabitants  still  dream  of  a  future  in  which  the 
people  of  Holland  will  recover  their  former  greatness.  He  was  convinced 
that  within  half  a  century  there  would  be  in  South  Africa  a  population  of 
eight  millions,  all  speaking  the  Dutch  language  and  all  extending  the  glory 
of  Holland — a  second  Holland,  as  energetic  and  liberty-loving  as  the  first, 
but  greater  in  extent  and  greater  in  power. 

The  very  same  idea  was  cherished  by  the  Dutch  settlers  in  Natal 
when  in  1841  they  sent  an  emissary  to  Holland  to  negotiate  the  terms 
of  an  alliance.  At  that  time  the  Dutch  settlers  expressed  in  writing 
the  idea  which  has  been  cherished  ever  since.  In  their  Volksraad,  on 
January  14, 1841,  they  adopted  a  proposed  alliance  with  Her  Majesty 
Queen  Victoria,  the  chief  points  of  which  were  :  (1)  That  they  should 
be  independent — the  Independent  Kepublic  of  Port  Natal  and  Ad- 
jacent Countries ;  (2)  That  Her  Majesty's  Government  should  treat 
v/ith  the  Eepublic  in  the  relation  of  an  ally,  and  that  the  Eepublic 
would  reciprocally  declare  itself  in  the  closest  alliance  with  the  British 
Government ;  (8)  That  in  case  of  the  Eepublic  being  attacked  by  sea 
by  any  other  power  whatsoever,  Her  Majesty's  Government  should 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  xi 

be  at  liberty  either  to  interpose  itself  in  a  friendly  manner  or  repel 
the  enemy  by  force;  (4)  That  in  case  of  war  between  the  British 
Government  and  any  other  power,  the  Eepublic  should  remain 
neutral;  (5)  That  the  British  Government  should  have  the  right  to 
place  in  the  KepubUc  an  Ambassador  or  representative  Agent.  From 
which  it  will  be  seen  that  there  has  been  no  material  change  in  the 
aspirations  or  even  in  the  phrases  employed;  nor  is  this  wonderful 
when  one  remembers  that  the  men  who  have  nursed  this  ambition 
for  so  many  years  in  the  Transvaal  are  the  immediate  descendants  of 
the  very  men  who  attempted  to  realize  it  in  Natal. 

These  matters,  although  of  considerable  historical  interest,  are  not 
of  any  greater  importance  in  the  present  case.  In  considering  the 
aspirations  of  the  Transvaal,  it  is  essential  that  the  matters  ante- 
cedent to  the  retrocession  should  not  be  received  as  evidence,  because 
the  intentions  or  designs  of  the  Transvaal  towards  England  may  only 
be  judged  by  its  obligations  towards  England  as  defined  first  by  the 
Pretoria  Convention  and  subsequently  by  the  London  Convention, 
which  two  documents  governed  the  relations  of  the  two  countries 
until  the  outbreak  of  war.  In  1881,  when  the  Pretoria  Convention 
was  signed,  and  in  1884,  when  the  London  Convention  was  signed, 
the  representatives  of  the  Transvaal  endeavoured  to  secure  the  revival 
of  the  old  Sand  River  Convention,  under  which  treaty  there  were 
practically  no  restrictions  as  to  boundaries. 

The  Transvaal  State  had  been  called  the  South  African  Eepublic  for 
a  particular  reason,  and  the  significance  of  the  title  should  never  be 
lost  sight  of.  "Whatever  may  have  been  thought  by  others,  it  is 
beyond  all  doubt  that  the  design  of  its  founders  and  rulers  has  been 
gradually  to  extend  until  it  should  dominate  South  Africa  and  if 
possible  absorb  other  communities  in  one  United  South  African 
Eepublic.  '  Indeed,  the  aspiration  to  be  free  to  extend  their  territories 
and  to  contract  treaties  as  they  might  deem  fit  has  never  been  con- 
cealed, although  from  time  to  time,  to  suit  a  special  purpose,  it  has 
been  found  convenient  to  profess  entire  satisfaction  with  the  terms  of 
the  London  Convention. 

In  order  to  realize  to  some  extent  why  the  Transvaal  should  have 
been  anxious  to  have  the  restrictions  upon  its  complete  liberty  removed, 
it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  material  aspirations  of  the  Transvaal 
Government.  For  the  purpose  of  illustrating  this,  a  map  has  been 
prepared  which  is  designed  to  show  the  extent  of  territory  which  the 
Transvaal  Government  have  either  claimed  as  their  heritage  and  right, 
or  endeavoiired  to  secure  from  natives  by  treaty  or  concession,  or  else 
attempted  to  seize  by  force,  and  it  is  essential  to  bear  in  mind  that  all 
this  has  been  done  since  the  restoration  of  independence,  and  in  con- 
flict with  the  terms  of  the  Conventions.  Information  bearing  upon 
this  matter  will  be  found  in  other  portions  of  this  volume  (see  p.  41 
et  seq.).    The  attempt  to  seize  Bechuanaland  was  only  defeated  by 

b 


xii  INTEODtJCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

the  exertions  of  the  tireless  and  patriotic  enthusiast,  the  Eev.  John 
Mackenzie,  and  the  Warren  Expedition ;  the  full  history  is  given  in 
Mr.  Mackenzie's  book  *  Austral  Africa.' 

General  Joubert's  letter  to  Lobengula  sufficiently  indicates  the  Boers' 
aspirations  as  regards  Matabeleland  and  Mashonaland ;  but  it  was  only 
a  preliminary  measure  designed  to  pave  the  way  for  closer  relations. 
Whether  any  steps  were  taken  during  the  years  immediately  follow- 
ing is  not  known  to  the  writer.  During  December,  1887,  however, 
by  a  rather  singular  accident,  the  aspirations  of  the  Transvaal  towards 
the  North  became  known,  and  the  discovery  led  eventually  to  the 
formation  of  the  Chartered  Company.  At  that  time  the  late  Mr.  A.  H. 
Nelimapius  was  a  valued  friend  and  trusted  adviser  of  President  Kruger. 
He  was  also  on  friendly  terms  with  Mr.  Alfred  Beit,  then  a  resident  in 
Kimberley.  Hearing  that  the  latter  had  purchased  a  share  in  the  con- 
cession granted  some  years  before  by  Lobengula — now  known  as  the 
Tati  Concession — Mr.  Nelimapius  wrote  to  Mr.  Beit  that  President 
Kruger  was  then  sending  an  emissary  named  Grobelaar  to  Lobengula 
to  arrange  for  a  protectorate  over  the  whole  of  Lobengula's  possessions, 
but  that  this  fact  need  cause  no  uneasiness,  as  he  (Nelimapius)  had 
obtained  an  assurance  from  President  Kruger  that  the  Tati  Concession 
would  be  respected.  This  letter  Mr.  Beit  showed  to  Mr.  Ehodes,  whose 
plans  and  ideas  about  the  North  he  had  for  some  years  shared  and  dis- 
cussed. Mr.  Ehodes  posted  off  the  same  night  to  Grahamstown,  where 
the  High  Commissioner  (Sir  Hercules  Eobinson)  was  then  opening  the 
Exhibition,  and  put  him  in  possession  of  the  facts.  The  outcome  of 
this  was  the  immediate  dispatch  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Moffat  to  Lobengula's 
kraal  to  negotiate  a  treaty  on  behalf  of  the  Imperial  Government 
which  would  be,  in  effect,  'Hands  off!'  to  every  other  Government. 
Mr.  Moffat,  as  is  known,  arrived  at  Bulawayo  first  and  succeeded  in 
his  mission.  Grobelaar  not  only  failed,  but  by  reason  of  indulging 
(according  to  the  statements  of  Chief  Khama)  in  certain  high-handed 
actions,  became  involved  in  a  fight  in  the  course  of  which  he  was  killed. 
The  aspiration  and  the  disappointment  were  admitted  by  President 
Kruger  himself  in  1891,  when  he  was  persuaded  to  stop  a  trek  organized 
by  the  Transvaal  Boers  to  seize  a  portion  of  Ehodesia  known  as  Ban- 
jailand.  At  that  time  the  President  openly  stated  that  they  had  been 
cheated  by  Ehodes  out  of  their  heritage — the  northern  territories  up  to 
the  Zambesi — their  ancient  hunting-grounds  which  they  had  looked 
upon  as  their  right,  and  now  they  had  been  "  shut  up  in  a  kraal." 

Following  the  frontiers  of  the  Transvaal,  it  will  be  observed  that  the 
Portuguese  territory  north  of  Delagoa  Bay  was  not  respected.  Emis- 
saries were  sent  to  the  chief  Gungunhana  to  obtain  from  him  a  con- 
cession by  which  it  was  hoped  to  secure  sovereign  rights  over  a  con- 
siderable tract  of  country  covering  the  Limpopo  Eiver  and  Valley,  and 
that  outlet  to  the  sea.  South  of  Delagoa  Bay  attempts  were  made  to 
secure  Zanbaan's  and  Umbigiza's  countries,  which  attempts  were  frus- 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  xiii 

trated  by  the  annexation  of  these  territories  by  Lord  Eosebery  in  1895 
— an  act  which  the  Transvaal  Government  to  this  day  affect  to  regard 
as  one  of  robbery.  In  Tongaland  emissaries  were  for  long  engaged  in 
endeavouring  to  persuade  the  Queen  to  make  the  necessary  concessions 
there,  but  here  again  the  British  Government  intervened.  In  Swazi- 
land, unfortunately,  the  Boer  method  was  quite  successful,  and  the 
country  became,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  portion  of  the  Transvaal. 
Zululand  was  seized  by  raiders,  and  although  the  most  valuable  por- 
tion was  allowed  to  remain  in  their  hands,  access  to  the  sea  was  again 
barred  by  the  British  Government. 

A  single  glance  at  the  map  will  show  what  the  position  in  South 
Africa  would  have  been  had  the  Boers  succeeded  in  their  aspirations. 
The  Cape  Colony  dominated,  as  it  was  hoped  it  would  be,  by  a  Dutch 
majority,  would,  in  all  human  probability,  not  have  been  found  out  of 
harmony  with  so  powerful  a  neighbour  as  the  South  African  Eepublic 
would  then  have  been ;  and  the  action  of  the  Free  State  is  not  open  to 
doubt.  Thus,  the  only  real  British  possession  south  of  the  Zambesi 
would  have  been  the  Colony  of  Natal. 

It  will  be  urged  by  those  who  do  not  accept  this  view  that  nothing 
is  easier  than  to  colour  a  map  and  make  statements  unsupported  by 
evidence,  which  impose  upon  the  other  party  the  obligation  of  proving 
a  negative.  It  is  not  possible,  perhaps,  to  prove  aspirations  or  inten- 
tions ;  the  best  that  can  be  done  is  to  draw  reasonable  inferences  from 
the  known  facts.  Thus,  the  opinions  of  intelligent  people  who  were  in 
possession  of  all  the  facts  and  witnesses  of  events  may  be  regarded  as 
evidence  of  some  value.  Fortunately,  there  is  some  such  evidence 
available ;  fortunately,  also,  it  dates  sufficiently  far  back  to  be  quite 
uninfluenced  by  Uitlander  questions  or  any  of  the  later  troubles  which 
have  disturbed  the  Transvaal,  and  it  shows  that  the  view  as  to  the 
aspirations  of  the  Transvaal,  v/hich  people  outside  South  Africa  have 
only  lately,  and  with  much  reluctance,  accepted,  was  very  strongly 
held  in  South  Africa  very  many  years  ago.  The  Kev.  John  Mackenzie, 
in  his  very  notable  book,  already  referred  to,  which  was  published  in 
1887,  dealing  with  Transvaal  affairs  between  1881  and  1884,  and  espe- 
cially with  the  visit  of  the  Transvaal  delegates  to  England  in  1883  and 
1884,  when  the  London  Convention  was  negotiated,  entitles  the  most 
important  chapter  '  The  Transvaal  Struggle  for  Supremacy  in  South 
Africa.'  The  opinion  of  an  intelhgent  observer  at  that  time  is  worth 
knowing.  Dealing  with  the  subject  of  the  Transvaal  rising  in  1881, 
Mr.  Mackenzie  wrote : 

The  Transvaal  rising  was  not  dictated,  as  was  believed,  in  England  by  a 
love  of  freedom  and  preference  for  a  re|)ublic  rather  than  a  limited  monarchy. 
It  was  inspired  by  men  who  were  planning  a  policy  which  should  banish  the 
English  language  and  English  influence  from  South  Africa.  Their  action  was 
a  blow  directly  dealt  against  freedom,  progress,  and  union  of  Europeans  in 
South  Africa. 

The  High  Commissioner,  Sir  Hercules  Eobinson  (Lord  Eosmead), 


xiv  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

who  certainly  cannot  be  charged  with  prejudice  against  the  Dutch  in 
South  Africa,  gave  his  opinion,  in  1882,  when  the  Transvaal  Govern- 
ment, within  a  year  of  the  signing  of  the  Pretoria  Convention,  were 
supporting  their  subjects  and  agents  in  the  attempt  to  seize  Bechuana- 
land.     He  wrote  (Blue  Book  3486,  Nos.  25  and  43) : 

I  am  unable  to  hold  out  any  hope  of  inducing  the  Transvaal  Government 
to  restrain  those  of  its  subjects  who  are  engaged  in  the  acts  of  brigandage 
referred  to.  The  resources  of  argument  and  protest  have  already  been  ex- 
hausted by  Mr.  Hudson. 

*  *  -x-  -Jfr  *  * 

I  confess  I  am  unable  to  conceive  what  more  effective  treaty  arrangements 
against  extension  proclivities  can  be  devised  than  those  which  aheady  exist. 

If  Montsioa  and  Mankoroane  were  now  absorbed,  Bonoquani,  Mokobi,  and 
Bareki  would  soon  share  the  same  fate.  Gassisibi  and  Sechele  would  come 
next.  So  long  as  there  were  native  cattle  to  be  stolen  and  native  lands  worth 
appropriating,  the  absorbing  process  would  be  repeated.  Tribe  after  tribe 
would  be  pushed  back  and  back  upon  other  tribes,  or  would  perish  in  the 
process,  until  an  uninhabitable  desert,  or  the  sea,  were  reached  as  the  ultimate 
boundary  of  the  State. 

The  Blue  Books  of  this  period  contain  a  mass  of  evidence  showing 
that  the  encroachments  of  the  Boers  on  the  Bechuanaland  and  Zulu 
side  were  already  in  active  progress  in  1882,  and  the  subject  of  remon- 
strances from  the  High  Commissioner  in  Cape  Town,  the  British 
Resident  in  Pretoria,  the  Special  Commissioner  for  Zulu  affau^s,  and 
the  Governor  of  Natal.  They  contain  even  such  evidence  as  copies  of 
letters  to  native  chiefs  outside  their  territory  accepting  the  cession  of 
these  territories  to  the  South  African  Bejpuhlic.  (Observe  the  use  of 
this  title,  notwithstanding  that  its  use  had  been  forbidden  by  the 
British  Government,  and  the  country  was  known  in  the  Pretoria  Con- 
vention as  the  Transvaal  State.)  As  early  as  November  30,  1882,  the 
British  Eesident  pointed  out  that  these  Acts  of  the  Transvaal  Govern- 
ment 'contravened  the  very  first  article  of  the  Convention,'  and  pro- 
posed to  violate  also  Article  2,  Section  C.  In  January,  1883,  Lord  Derby 
instructed  Sir  Hercules  Robinson  to  '  call  upon  the  Government  of  the 
Transvaal  to  carry  out  the  19th  section  of  the  Convention  and  to 
restrain  its  subjects  from  continuing  the  acts  of  trespass  '  in  Zululand. 

The  ceaseless  unwearying  pursuit  of  the  Boer  aspiration,  however, 
cannot  be  properly  appreciated  without  study  of  the  Blue  Books  and 
newspapers  of  the  period,  and  such  books  as  Mr.  Mackenzie's  '  Austral 
Africa.'  The  time  of  the  High  Commissioner  and  the  British  Resident 
seems  to  have  been  fairly  v/ell  occupied  in  endeavouring  to  head  off 
the  encroaching  Transvaal  Government,  and  the  evidence  of  the  per- 
sistency of  the  Boers  arouses  feelings  of  exasperation,  wonder,  and 
even  amusement.  When  informed  that  they  may  not  *  accept  cession ' 
of  territories,  they  commence  again  on  the  plea  that  they  are  interested 
because  *  old  friends  and  burghers  of  the  State '  beyond  the  limits  of 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  xv 

the  Republic  have  been  left  '  without  protection  and  thus  exposed  to 
death  and  destruction.'  When  headed  off  here,  they  state  that  'in 
consequence  of  fresh  reports  of  violations  of  our  borders  ...  we  have 
determined  to  send  a  commission  to  investigate  this  and  other  matters 
on  our  borders.'  That  Sir  Hercules  Robinson  realized  their  intention 
becomes  evident  from  the  reply  that  'if  they  desire  to  extend  their 
investigations  beyond  their  frontier,  it  will  not  be  competent  for  them 
to  undertake  such  inquiry  alone.' 

'  Treaties  of  peace  '  and  '  letters  of  friendship  '  also  play  their  part, 
and  the  complaint  made  by  Sir  Alfred  Milner,  that  the  persistent 
attempts  to  strain  or  break  the  Convention  keep  up  a  condition  of 
friction  between  the  two  Governments  which  gi\'«s  absolutely  no 
chance  to  the  policy  of  conciliation,  would  have  been  as  reasonable 
in  1882  as  it  was  in  1899.  However  peacefully  inclined  Sir  Hercules 
Robinson  might  have  been,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  he  could  have 
ignored  attempts  so  flagrant  as  those  made  and  such  reminders  so 
pointed  as  the  one  from  Montsioa  in  December  1882,  in  which  the 
native  chief  said  :  '  I  want  to  know  if  the  English  Government  allows 
these  freebooters  to  seize  my  country  in  this  way,  and  whether  the 
Convention  they  made  at  Pretoria  with  the  Boers  is  really  destroyed  ?' 
The  Afrikander  Bond  was  founded  in  the  Orange  Free  State  imme- 
diately after  the  "War  of  Independence.  It  was  started  by  Mr.  F.  W. 
Reitz  (then  a  judge  in  the  Orange  Free  State  and  now  State  Secretary 
of  the  Transvaal)  and  the  late  Mr.  Carl  Borckenhagen,  whose  news- 
paper, the  Express,  has  consistently  and  openly  advocated  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Dutch  United  States  of  South  Africa  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
Imperial  power.  The  Bond  grew  out  of  the  war,  and  its  first  programme 
was  quite  free  from  ambiguity.  The  later  declarations  of  the  Bond  in 
the  Cape  Colony  are  entirely  different.  The  official  one,  which  is 
issued  annually  to  members  of  the  Bond,  is  a  reprint  of  a  lecture 
delivered  by  Mr.  T.  Theron  in  1887.  The  spirit  pervading  that 
document,  so  far  as  it  concerns  the  language,  history,  customs,  and  all 
that  go  to  mark  a  race  of  the  Dutch,  and  displays  toleration  towards 
others,  is  one  which  would  assuredly  command  sympathy  and  admira- 
tion and  encouragement,  were  it  not  for  the  ambiguities,  the  hints,  and 
the  omissions  which  arrest  attention. 

Under  the  flag  of  England  there  are  many  peoples  with  their  tradi- 
,  tions,  their  languages,  and  their  pride  of  race ;  and  there  is  room  for 
lall.  It  is  a  matter  for  regret,  therefore,  that  it  should  be  open  to  doubt 
whether,  in  the  view  of  half  the  inhabitants  of  one  part  of  the  British 
Empire,  a  citizen  should  not  be  a  true  patriot  unless  he  belongs  to  one 
particular  race  and  speaks  one  particular  language,  and  shares  the 
aims  peculiar  to  that  party.  It  is  also  unfortunate  that  the  opening 
paragraph  of  the  official  statement  referred  to  should  contain  such 
an  explanation  as  this :  '  But  before  I  go  further,  I  must  make  this 
remark :  If  you  perhaps  miss  in  my  statement  what  you  would  have 


xvi  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

liked  to  find  in  it,  do  not  let  it  annoy  yon,  for  I  have  purposely  avoided 
what  might  be  prejudicial  and  give  offence.'  If  the  Bondsman  dwells 
with  emphasis  upon  the  cordial  invitation  to  '  Africander,  Englishman, 
Scotchman,  Frenchman,  German,  American,  or  whatever  countryman ' 
to  join,  the  non-Bondsman  feels  that  there  is  in  the  circumstances  of 
South  Africa  a  little  something  wanting  in  the  same  paragraph  de- 
scribing the  aim  of  the  Bond  to  become  '  an  organization  whose  heart 
will  be  wide  enough  to  embrace  not  only  this  colony,  but  the  Orange 
Free  State,  Transvaal,  Natal,  and  as  many  as  may  be  around,  and  in 
that  by  constitutional  means  press  them  all  together  into  an  "  United 
South  Africa."  '  And  the  uneasy  feeling  finds  expression  in  the  query, 
'  Under  what  flag  ?'  No  flag  is  mentioned  now ;  but  the  first  pro- 
gramme was  guiltless  of  this  omission,  and  it  is  not  repudiated. 

Bondsmen  whose  aspirations  are  legitimate  may  feel  injured  and 
hurt  by  such  an  attitude,  yet  they  cannot  upon  reflection  consider  it 
unreasonable,  bearing  in  mind  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
Bond  was  formed.  It  was  started  in  non-British  territory  as  an  out- 
come of  a  war  which  President  Brand  informed  Mr.  Gladstone  the 
Free  State  and  Cape  Colony  Dutch  threatened  to  make  a  race  war. 
It  was  started  avowedly  with  the  object  of  creating  a  Dutch  Eepublic, 
to  embrace  all  South  Africa,  and  was  emphatically  hostile  to  Great 
Britain.  An  authority  whose  testimony  is  unimpeachable  bears  witness 
to  this.  The  Bond  was  started  by  Messrs.  Eeitz  and  Borckenhagen 
in  Bloemfontein,  while  President  Brand  was  absent  on  his  peace 
mission  v/hich  resulted  in  the  Pretoria  Convention.  Mr.  Brand's 
aspiration  for  the  United  States  of  South  Africa  under  the  South 
African  flag  has  already  been  quoted.  His  acts  show  that  his  '  dream ' 
was  a  legitimate  aspiration,  for  he  refused  to  countenance  either 
violence  or  intrigue.  On  his  return  to  Bloemfontein  he  threw  all  his 
weight  in  the  scale  against  the  Bond,  and  on  October  22,  at  Smithfield 
^'Orange  Free  State),  in  reply  to  an  address  of  welcome  in  which  pointed 
allusions  to  the  Afrikander  Bond  occurred,  he  spoke  out  very  strongly, 
condemning  the  Bond  for  not  '  doing  as  it  would  be  done  by,'  since  it 
sought  to  raise  the  Kepublican  standard  in  a  country  whose  Govern- 
ment was  at  peace  with  their  State — a  course  of  action  which  the  Orange 
Free  State  would  itself  rightly  and  strongly  resent.  Following  this 
up,  he  sent  a  written  reply  on  the  same  day,  in  which  he  said :  '  I 
would  like  to  repeat  in  writing  what  I  said  verbally  .  .  .  and  make 
known  my  objections  to  the  propriety  of  the  Afrikander  Bond.  .  .  . 
It  was  not  gratifying  to  me  that  in  your  salutation  of  welcome  you 
placed  the  Afrikander  Bond  so  prominently  in  the  foreground.  How- 
ever, since  that  has  occurred,  I  may  not  now  pass  it  over  in  silence, 
and  I  exercise  my  duty  in  warning  you  of  the  dangers  which  I  see 
beforehand,  in  order  that  the  seeds  of  dissension  may  not  be  sown 
where  unity  should  exist.'  The  letter  continues  at  length  to  urge  '  the 
giving  offence  to  no  one  and  the  respecting  of  the  feelings  of  each  one 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  xvii 

as  we  would  that  others  should  do  unto  us,'  so  as  to  '  strengthen  and 
confirm  the  most  amicable  relations  with  the  Governments  and  in- 
habitants of  the  neighbouring  colonies.' 

The  cry  of '  Africa  for  the  Afrikanders '  is  familiar,  and  the  definition 
of  the  true  Afrikander,  viz.,  the  South  African  Dutchman,  will  be 
admitted  by  all  who  know  South  Africa  as  being  indisputably  the 
meaning  attached  to  the  term  by  the  Afrikander  Bond.  The  writer  is 
well  aware  that  in  the  present  state  of  feeling  it  will  be  difficult  to 
secure  a  patient,  dispassionate  consideration  of  the  Bond's  policy  because 
of  recent  events.  But  the  object  in  view  is  not  to  consider  what  the 
attitude,  sympathies  or  aspirations  of  men  are  now  under  exceptional 
circumstances,  but  what  they  were  under  normal  conditions  at  a  time 
when  the  British  Government  and  the  British  people  gave  every 
chance  in  the  world  to  the  growth  of  kindly  feelings — as  witness  the 
reluctance  and  even  disgust  with  which  they  felt  themselves  compelled 
to  send  out  the  Warren  Expedition.  The  question  would  naturally  be 
asked  then :  '  Upon  which  side  were  the  sympathies  of  the  Afrikander 
Bond?'  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  answer,  for  the  Blue  Books 
contain  the  evidence  that  when  at  last  in  desperation  the  British 
Government  agreed  to  the  annexation  of  Bechuanaland,  the  Afrikander 
Bond  opposed  this  course,  and  even  displayed  openly  their  sympathies 
with  the  raiders  who  had  attempted  to  seize  the  native  territories. 
Sir  Hercules  Eobinson  proposed  that  the  territory  to  be  annexed  should 
be  incorporated  in  the  Cape  Colony,  but  the  Colonial  Government, 
held  in  office  by  the  Bond,  refused  to  accept  the  suggestion,  or  to 
'  entertain  any  proposal  involving  an  extension  of  the  northern  boundary 
of  that  portion  of  the  Colony  which  formed  the  late  province  of 
Griqualand  West '  (Blue  Book  C.  3486,  No.  43,  Enc.  3).  The  position 
is  simple  therefore,  and  the  inference  plain :  the  Afrikander  Bond 
operating  in  a  British  colony  objected  to  annexing  this  territory  for 
themselves,  and  objected  also  to  the  annexation  of  it  by  the  Imperial 
Government,  but  preferred  that  the  territory  should  be  occupied  by 
its  countrymen  in  the  Transvaal  who  were  displaying  inveterate 
hostility  to  the  British  Government  and  persistent  determination  to 
evade  their  treaty  obligations  towards  the  Suzerain  Power.  That  there 
was  little  concealment  of  the  co-operation  of  the  Afrikander  Bond  and 
the  Transvaal  is  shown  by  the  publications  in  Blue  Book  8841.  Among 
them  will  be  found  an  account  showing  that  when  the  Transvaal 
deputies  were  proceeding  to  England  to  negotiate  the  London  Conven- 
tion they  proposed  a  meeting  en  route  with  the  Cape  Government  for 
the  purpose  of  discussing  Bechuanaland  affairs.  The  proposal  was 
accepted  and  arrangements  made,  but  after  the  deputies  had  arrived 
in  Cape  Town  and  discussed  matters  with  the  Afrikander  Bond  leaders, 
they  declined  to  proceed  with  the  interview  which  they  had  officially 
arranged,  giving  the  astounding  reason  that  the  Cape  Ministers  *  were 
not  authorized  by  the  Colonial  Parliament '  to  hold  such  an  interview. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

But  the  Bond  went  further,  and  in  support  of  the  Transvaal  deputation 
they  addressed  the  following  petition  to  Her  Majesty's  Government  in 
October,  1883 : 

TO  THE  QUEEN'S  MOST  EXCELLENT  MAJESTY. 

The  petition  of  the  undersigned  Office  Bearers  of  the  Afrikander  Bond  of 
the  Colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.     Humbly  sheweth — 

That  Your  Majesty's  petitioners  represent  many  thousands  of  Your 
Majesty's  faithful  subjects,  mostly  of  Dutch  extraction,  residing  in  the  Colony 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  v>^ho  deeply  sympathise  with  their  compatriots  of 
the  Transvaal  State. 

That  Your  Majesty's  petitioners,  while  grateful  for  the  concessions  already 
made  by  Your  Majesty's  Government  to  the  Transvaal  Boei-s,  as  fully  set  forth 
in  the  Pretoria  Convention  of  1881,  feel  in  duty  bound  to  express  their  con- 
viction that  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  said  convention  are  not  calculated 
to  promote  either  the  good  government  of  the  Transvaal  Boers  and  of  the 
native  tribes  within  and  immediately  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  Transvaal 
State,  or  to  lead  to  that  enduring  harmony  and  good  understanding  between 
Your  Majesty's  Government  and  the  Soioth  African  States  generally  which 
Your  Majesty's  petitioners  deem  an  indispensable  condition  for  the  future 
prosperity  of  South  Africa. 

That  Your  Majesty's  petitioners  have  learned  with  exceeding  gladness  that 
Your  Majesty's  Government  have  graciously  consented  to  give  audience  to  a 
deputation  from  the  Transvaal  State,  who  have  been  delegated  with  the  view 
of  obtaining  a  revision  of  the  Convention  of  Pretoria. 

That  Your  Majesty's  petitioners  beg  humbly  to  express  the  hope  that  it 
may  please  Your  Majesty's  Government  to  favourably  entertain  the  proposals 
which  will  be  laid  before  them  by  the  deputation  with  reference  to  certain  of 
the  provisions  of  the  Convention  in  question,  more  particularly  in  connexion 
with  the  boundaries  prescribed  to,  and  the  pecuniary  obligations,  and  the 
restrictions  as  to  its  liberty  of  action,  imposed  on  the  Transvaal  State. 

And  Your  Majesty's  petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 
(Signed)    J.  J.  Jansen  Rensbehg,  Chairman  Afrikander  Bond. 

D.  F.  Du  ToiT,  D.Pzn.,  Vice-Chairman  Afrikander  Bond. 
J.  H.  HoFMEYR,  Junr. ,  Treasurer  Afrikander  Bond. 
Thos.  p.  Theeon,  Secretary  Afrikander  Bond. 

This  in  plain  English  means  that  the  Afrikander  Bond  endorsed  all 
the  demands  which  the  Transvaal  deputation  might  make.  In  order 
to  understand  what  this  means,  the  letter  of  the  Transvaal  deputation 
embodying  these  demands,  addressed  to  Lord  Derby  from  the  Albemarle 
Hotel,  London,  on  November  14,  1883,  should  be  read  (Blue  Book 
C  3841,  No.  74).  The  spirit  and  purport  of  it,  however,  can  be  indicated 
by  a  few  extracts. 

Her  Majesty's  Government  would  entirely  mistake  the  feelings  of  our 
people  should  they  suppose  that  either  the  present  or  the  coming  generation 
can  ever  rest  in  satisfaction  unless  the  Sand  River  Convention  be  again  recog- 
nised as  the  historical  basis  of  the  new  arrangement. 

^  *  *  *  *  * 

It  may  be  that  the  people  of  the  South  African  Republic  will  even  now 
thankfully  accept  from  Her  Majesty's  Government  some  a]le\aation  of  the 
burden  imposed  upon  them  ;  but  whatever  concessions  Her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment may  be  prepared  to  make,  the  reciprocal  confidence  between  the  British 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  xix 

and  Dutch  colonists  will  then  only  revive,  when  Her  Majesty's  Government 
also  will  accept  the  Sand  River  Convention  as  the  historical  basis  of  all  further 
arrangements.  Any  settlement  not  founded  upon  this  basis  cannot  but  be  of 
a  merely  temporary  character  ;  only  upon  this  basis  can  a  permanent  settle- 
ment be  secured. 

In  other  words,  the  Transvaal  Government  desired  the  right  of 
unlimited  expansion  ;  and  the  Afrikander  Bond,  refusing  to  accept  for 
the  Cape  Colony  the  northern  territories,  and  opposing  their  annexation 
by  the  Imperial  Government,  supported  the  claim  of  the  Transvaal. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  show  how  Lord  Derby  in  his  reply  disposed  of 
the  claim  regarding  the  Sand  Kiver  Convention.  On  November  20, 
1883,  he  wrote : 

It  is  not  possible  to  entertain  the  suggestion  that  that  Convention  has  now 
any  vitality,  or  that,  if  it  could  be  revived,  it  would  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  present  case.  That  Convention,  like  the  Convention  of  Pretoria,  was  not 
a  treaty  between  two  contracting  Powers,  but  was  a  declaration  made  by  the 
Queen,  and  accepted  by  certain  persons,  at  that  time  her  subjects,  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which,  and  the  extent  to  which,  Her  Majesty  could  permit  them 
to  manage  their  own  affairs  without  interference.  It  did  not  create  a  South 
African  Republic,  with  a  political  organization  and  defined  boundaries,  and 
the  conditions  with  which  it  dealt  had  to  a  great  extent  disappeared  before 
the  annexation  in  1877  terminated  the  independence  of  the  Republic,  and,  as 
was  declared  by  your  Volksraad  in  confirming  the  Convention  of  Pretoria, 
brought  the  Sand  River  Convention  to  an  end. 

Commenting  upon  the  letter  of  the  deputation,  the  High  Commis- 
sioner, Sir  Hercules  Kobinson,  wrote  to  the  Colonial  Office  on  Novem- 
ber 23,  1883 : 

I  do  not  think  that  such  a  proposition  (restoration  of  the  Sand  River  Con- 
vention) should  be  entertained.  One  of  the  eftects  of  it  would  be  to  sweep 
away  all  defined  boundaries,  and  to  allow  the  unhmited  expansion  of  the 
Transvaal  upon  the  east,  as  well  as  upon  the  west. 

The  deputation  asked  'that  all  restrictions  by  which  the  South  African 
Republic  is  prevented  from  taking  action  on  behalf  of  humanity  and  peace, 
according  to  the  demands  of  the  moment,  in  its  intercourse  with  the  native 
tribes  on  its  borders,  may  be  removed ';  and,  as  a  substitute  for  such  restric- 
tions, they  '  offer  for  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  natives  all  such  guaran- 
tees as  are  prescribed  by  Divine  law  and  human  feeling. '  I  regret  to  state 
that  experience  has  led  me  to  doubt  the  practical  efficacy  of  such  '  guaran- 
tees, '  so  long  as  there  are  ^laiive  cattle  to  be  stolen  or  native  lands  that  are 
worth  appTopriatiug ;  and^  do  not  think  that  the  removal  of  the  existing 
restrictions  upon  the  '  tre^lang '  proclivities  of  the  Boers  would,  as  assumed 
by  the  deputation,  advance  the  interests  of  'humanity  and  peace.' i^ I  be- 
lieve, on  the  contrary,  that  the  result  would  be  that  native  tribe  after  native 
tribe  would  be  absorbed  into  the  Transvaal,  or  would  perish  in  the  process;" 
The  ultimate  hmmdaries  of  the  State  viould  be  the  Atlantic  and  Indian  Oceans^ 
and  thus  the  independent  native  tribes  to  the  east  and  west  of  the  existing 
boundaries  would  be  extinguished,  whilst  at  the  same  time  an  effectual  barrier 
would  be  interposed  to  the  trade  of  the  British  Colonies  in  the  south  with  the 
interior  of  Africa. 

Doubtless  they  would  prefer  to  be  free,  without  any  defined  boundaries,  so 
tliat  they  might  go  where  they  please,  and  do  what  seems  to  them  good. 
Even  if  thoy  agree,  the  Transvaal  Government  will  perhaps  e\ance  no  more 


xr  INTRODUCTION  TO  TPIE  POPULAR  EDITION 

earnest  desire  in  the  future  than  they  have  done  in  the  past  to  prevent  their 
burghers  making  encroachments  on  lands  beyond  the  State,  as  promised  by 
the  19th  Article  of  the  Convention.  But  the  enforcement  of  the  Article  by 
the  plan  which  I  propose  will  then  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment. 

*  -X-  ■X-  -X-  -X-  ■)( 

The  Transvaal  burghers  obviously  do  not  intend  to  observe  any  condition 
in  it  (Convention)  distasteful  to  themselves,  which  Her  Majesty's  Government 
are  not  prepared  to  insist  upon,  if  necessaiy,  by  the  employment  of  force. 

Many  evidences  could  be  cited  of  the  continued  pursuit  of  the  Boer 
aspiration  occurring  at  intervals  throughout  the  last  ten  years,  and 
many  will  be  found  in  different  parts  of  this  volume  ;  but  the  policy  of 
aggression  and  annexation  revealed  since  the  commencement  of  the 
war  is  perhaps  sufficient  evidence  of  what  the  aspiration  has  been  of 
late  years.  It  is  more  important  to  show  the  steady  pursuit  of  the 
same  policy  throughout  the  years  before  goldfields  and  Uitlanders 
brought  wealth  and  power  or  the  excuse  of  provocation,  and  when  the 
depth  of  purpose  was  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  Eepublic  was 
then  small  and  poor  and  struggling,  but  nevertheless  adhered  to  its 
aim.  The  evidence  in  this  connection  will  conclude  with  two  extracts 
from  speeches  of  well-known  South  African  public  men  in  1884  and 
1885.  The  troubles  in  Bechuanaland  culminated  in  the  despatch  of 
the  Warren  Expedition.  At  one  of  the  meetings — that  held  in  Cape 
Town — references  were  made  to  the  policy  of  the  Transvaal  which  are 
sufficiently  striking  to  merit  reproduction.  The  developments  of  fifteen 
years  have  justified  in  a  remarkable  manner  the  statements  made. 
The  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  support  the  British  Government  in 
its  action  against  the  Transvaal ;  the  Mayor  of  Cape  Town  was  in  the 
chair,  and  next  to  him  sat  Sir  John  Molteno,  the  first  Premier  of  the 
Colony  under  responsible  Government.  The  following  extract  from 
the  speech  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Leonard,  Q.C.,  previously  Attorney- General  of 
Cape  Colony,  will  suffice  to  show  that  no  misapprehension  existed  in 
South  Africa  as  to  the  aims  of  the  Transvaal : 

The  crisis,  gentlemen,  is  upon  us — a  crisis  the  gravity  of  which  I  wish  I 
could  impress  upon  the  mind  of  everyone  here.  It  should  be  impressed  upon 
the  minds  of  you  all,  and  upon  the  English  Government,  that,  upon  the 
outcome  of  this  crisis  depends  the  question  whether  the  British  flag  Is  to  fly 
in  South  Africa  as  the  flag  of  South  Africa  or  not  (hear,  hear).  I  challenge 
contradiction  to  that  statement.  I  know  that  treason  is  rampant  in  the 
land ;  I  know  that  disloyalty  is  promulgated  in  public  meetings,  in  the  press 
of  this  country,  in  the  press  of  Cape  Town. 

****** 

I  will  not  go  further  back  into  the  history  of  this  country  than  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Pretoria  Convention.  We  know  that  was  concluded  when 
Britain  had  sufi"ered  defeat ;  you  know  what  the  main  provisions  of  the  Con- 
vention were,  and  that  Her  Gracious  Majesty  the  Queen  was  to  be  the 
Suzerain  of  the  Transvaal ;  you  are  aware  the  boundaries  Avere  all  delineated 
in  that  document.     Well,  gentlemen,  when  the  Convention  was  concluded 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION  xxi 

it  was  manifested  that  the  people,  whom  its  deputies  were  supposed  to  repre- 
sent, did  not  exactly  like  it.  But,  gentlemen,  there  were  13,000  British 
troops  then  massed  on  the  south-east  slopes  of  the  Drakensberg,  eager  to 
avenge  the  defeat  inflicted  upon  them.  I  will  say  no  more.  The  Convention 
was  accepted,  and  the  troops  were  sent,  some  to  India,  some  to  England,  and 
some  to  other  divisions  of  our  Empire.  As  soon  as  they  were  withdraAvn  it 
became  manifest  that  the  era  of  intrigue  had  commenced.  Certain  individuals 
in  this  Colony  and  certain  individuals  in  the  interior  States  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  trade  upon  the  ignorance  of  the  poor  people  in  the  Transvaal, 
who  thought  the  people  of  Great  Britain  had  been  defeated  at  Laing's  Nek 
and  Majuba,  and  the  object  of  their  intrigues  was  to  destroy  the  British 
supremacy  in  South  Africa.  I  well  know  there  are  some  who  will  dispute 
what  I  am  saying,  and  that  remarks  will  be  made  that  I  am  speaking 
the  thing  that  is  not.  But  I  ask  the  men  who  have  lived  in  the 
country,  who  have  followed  the  current  of  events,  Is  not  what  I  put 
before  you  what  has  been  written  and  what  has  been  said  ?  I  say  their 
object  was  to  degrade  the  British  flag  and  to  bring  about  a  state  of  things 
when  it  would  no  longer  fly  in  this  country  with  honour  to  itself  or  for 
the  protection  of  people  living  under  it.  This  has  been  the  object  of  some 
of  the  people  of  the  Transvaal,  and  per  fas  ct  nefas  to  make  this  colony 
a  hide-bound  dependency  of  the  British  Cro^\^I.  Their  object — that  of  the 
mass  of  the  people ;  I  do  not  say  all  of  them — has  been  to  aggrandize  the 
Transvaal  State.  The  object  of  these  intrigues  was  to  cross  our  7iorthern 
boundary,  to  take  the  land  down  to  the  Indian  Ocean  on  the  East,  and  down  to 
the  Kalahari  on  the  West,  in  order  that  this  portion  of  the  British  Empire 
might  for  ever  he  shxit  in,  and  destroy  British  sentiment,  the  object  being  that 
the  Transvaal,  by  its  powers  of  unlimited  expansion,  should  become  the  para- 
onount  State  in  South  Africa,  and  with  them  was  to  rest  whether  we  should  he 
graciously  allowed  to  guard  our  coasts  or  whether  that  simple  privilege 
should  he  denied  us.  That,  I  say,  must  have  been  the  object  apparent  to 
every  man  who  knew  how  to  read  public  events  as  they  occurred  before  him. 
That  is  the  doctrine  which  has  been  promulgated  by  those  colonists  in  the 
country,  which  has  been  promulgated  in  a  portion  of  the  press  of  Cape  Town 
and  elsewhere. 

Mr.  J.  X.  Merriman,  a  distinguished  member  of  several  South 
African  Governments,  including  the  present  one,  in  a  speech  dehvered 
at  Grahamstown  in  1885,  exposed  at  great  length  the  attitude  and 
actions  of  the  Afrikander  Bond  and  the  Transvaal  Government  in 
connection  with  Bechuanaland  affairs.     Among  other  things  he  said  : 

Now  the  situation  is  a  grave  one.  It  is  not  a  question  of  localism  ;  it  is 
not  a  question  of  party  polities,  but  it  is  a  question  whether  the  Cape  Colony 
is  to  continue  to  be  an  integral  part  of  the  British  Empire.  The  question  is 
whether  we  intend  to  progress  along  the  lines  of  freedom,  of  civilization,  and 
respect  for  law  and  order,  or  whether  we  are  ready  to  take  the  Transvaal  for 
a  model,  and  have  our  policy  shaped  by  the  Afrikander  Bond  (hear,  hear). 
There  is  no  begging  the  question. 

^t  *  -x-  *  ■it  * 

Each  one  of  you  will  have  to  make  up  his  mind  whether  he  is  prepared  to 
see  this  Colony  remain  a  part  of  the  British  Empire,  which  carries  with  it 
obligations  as  well  as  privileges,  or  whether  he  is  prepared  to  obey  the 
dictates  of  the  Bond.  From  the  very  first  time,  some  years  ago,  when  the 
poison  began  to  be  distilled  into  the  country,  I  felt  that  it  must  come  to  this 
—Was  England  or  the  Transvaal  to  be  the  paramount  force  in  South  Africa  ? 
•it  *  *  *  *  * 


xxii  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  POPULAR  EDITION 

From  the  time  the  Convention  was  signed  the  policy  of  the  Transvaal  was 
to  push  out  bands  of  freebooters,  and  to  get  them  involved  in  quarrels  with 
the  natives  (hear,  hear).  They  wished  to  push  their  border  over  the  land  west- 
wards, and  realize  the  dream  of  President  Pretorius,  which  was  that  the 
Transvaal  should  stretch  from  the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  Atlantic. 

*  ¥:  ^  ¥r  ¥■  * 

1  could  not  agree  with  the  Bond.  It  would  make  people  have  different 
sides  and  places,  one  colonist  who  was  a  Dutchman  in  opposition  to  another 
colonist  who  was  an  Englishman.  Nothing  could  be  more  disastrous  (hear, 
hear).  Since  then  that  institution  has  made  a  show  of  loyalty,  while  it 
stirred  up  disloyalty.  Some  people  who  should  have  known  better  were 
dragged  into  the  toils  under  the  idea  that  they  could  influence  it  for  good  ; 
but  the  whole  teaching  of  history  went  to  show  that  when  the  conflict  was 
between  men  of  extreme  views  and  moderate  men,  the  violent  section 
triumphed  (hear,  hear). 

¥r  ¥r  *  *  ^  ^ 

What  could  they  think  of  the  objects  of  that  Bond,  when  they  found 
Judge  Reitz  advocating  a  Republic  of  South  Africa  under  one  flag  ? 
****** 

My  qiiarrel  with  the  Bond  is  that  it  stirs  up  race  differences.  (Hear,  hear.) 
Its  main  object  is  to  make  the  South  African  Republic  the  paramount  Power 
in  South  Africa.  That  is  the  reason  of  its  hostility  to  John  Brand— John 
Biand,  the  Afrikander  of  Afrikanders.     (Cheers.) 

The  questions  as  to  when  arming  was  determined  upon  and  what 
were  the  aspirations  of  the  Transvaal  have  been  discussed  in  a  manner 
which  it  is  hoped  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  his  own  judgment  ; 
but  it  is  realized  that,  however  clear  that  judgment  may  be,  there  will 
still  remain  a  desire  to  know  why,  if  this  policy  has  been  pursued  for 
60  many  years,  is  there  no  evidence  of  activity  in  arming  prior  to 
1894  ?  The  answer  is  very  simple.  It  was  a  question  of  means.  The 
revenue  and  expenditure  of  the  Republic  from  the  years  1871  to  1899 
are  given  (p.  58).  In  the  year  1890  the  great  collapse  occurred  in 
Johannesburg,  when  shares  fell  to  a  fraction  of  their  former  value, 
properties  were  abandoned,  the  population  melted  away,  and  it  was 
thought  by  most  people  that  the  mines  vrould  prove  unpayable.  It 
was  not  until  the  end  of  1893  that  the  State  revenue  rose  to  the  figure 
it  had  reached  in  1889,  and  a  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  future  of  the 
mining  industry  became  again  general.  The  returns  for  these  years 
are  appended : 


Years. 

Revenue. 

1889 

£1,577,445 

1890 

1,229,061 

1891 

967,192 

1892 

1,255,830 

1893 

1,702,685 

1894 

2,247,728 

1895 

2,923,648 

The  figures  speak  for  themsel 

vesi 

March,  1900. 

J.  p.  F. 


CONTENTS 

PART  L—A  PRIVATE  RECORD 
CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 
IN  EARLIER  DAYS      .------  1 


86 


CHAPTER  II 

AFTER   THE   WAR        -  -  -  -  - 

CHAPTER  III 

THE    ORIGIN    OF   THE   MOVEMENT       -  -  -  -  -         93 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE    REFORM    COMMITTEE      -----.      108 

CHAPTER  V 

THE    committee's   DILEMMA  .....      HQ 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE    INVASION  ..-.---      136 

CHAPTER  VII 

AFTER  DOORNKOP      .------      158 

CHAPTER  VIII 

ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS   -       -       -       -   175 

CHAPTER  IX 

LIFE   IN   GAOL  -  -  -  '  .  -  .      198 


xxiv  CONTENTS 

PART  11. —A  POSTSCRIPT 
CHAPTER  X 

pa(;e 
THREE  years'  GRACE      -..._-   222 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE   BEGINNING    OF   THE    END  .  .  -  .  .      260 

APPENDICES 

APPENDIX   A  ..,-..,      290 

Pretoria  Convention 

APPENDIX  B  -.--..-      297 

London  Convention 

APPENDIX   C  ..-...,      3Q4 

President  Kruger's  Affairs  in  the  Raads 

APPENDIX   D  ..--...      805 

Volksraad  Debates 

APPENDIX  B  ..__...      311 

Malaboch 

APPENDIX   F  .---...      812 

The  Great  Franchise  Debate 

APPENDIX   G  -.---..      819 

Terms  of  Dr.  Jameson's  Surrender 
APPENDIX  H  -  -  -  -  -  -  .     825 

Sir  John  Willoughby's  Report  to  the  War  Office 
APPENDIX  I  -  -  -  -  -  -  .     335 

Manifesto 

APPENDIX    K  -.-,-,.      34_rj 

The  Case  of  the  Chief tainess  Toeremetsjani 

APPENDIX    L  -  -  -  -  -  -  .      35Q 

Report  on  the  Letter  written  on  a  Torn  Telegram  Form  signed 
'  F.  R.,'  by  Mr.  T.  H.  Gurrin,  Expert  in  Handwriting 


PREFACE 


It  was  originally  designed  to  compile  a  statement  of  the  occurrences  of 
1895-96  in  the  Transvaal,  and  of  the  conditions  which  led  up  to  them, 
in  the  hope  of  removing  the  very  grave  misunderstandings  which 
existed.  Everybody  else  had  been  heard  and  judged,  the  Uitlander 
had  only  been  judged.  It  therefore  seemed  proper  that  somebody 
should  attempt  to  present  the  case  for  the  Uitlander.  The  writer,  as 
a  South  African  by  bu'th,  as  a  resident  in  the  Transvaal  since  1884, 
and  lastly,  as  Secretary  of  the  Reform  Committee,  felt  impelled  to  do 
this,  but  suffered  under  the  disability  of  President  Kruger's  three  years' 
ban;  and  although  it  might  possibly  have  been  urged  that  a  plain 
statement  of  facts  and  explanations  of  past  actions  could  not  be  fairly 
regarded  as  a  deliberate  interference  in  politics,  the  facts  themselves 
when  set  out  appeared  to  constitute  an  indictment  so  strong  as  to  make 
it  worth  while  considering  whether  the  Government  of  the  Transvaal 
would  not  regard  it  as  sufficient  excuse  to  put  in  force  the  sentence  of 
banishment.  The  postponement  of  publication  which  was  then  decided 
upon  for  a  period  of  three  years  appeared  to  be  tantamount  to  the 
abandonment  of  the  original  purpose,  and  the  work  was  continued  with 
the  intention  of  making  it  a  private  record  to  be  printed  at  the  expiry 
of  the  term  of  silence,  and  to  be  privately  circulated  amongst  those  who 
were  personally  concerned  or  interested—  a  record  which  might  perhaps 
be  of  service  some  day  in  filling  in  a  page  of  South  African  history. 

The  private  circulation  of  that  work  during  June  of  the  present  year 
led  to  suggestions  from  many  quarters  that  it  should  be  supplemented 
by  a  chapter  or  two  dealing  with  later  events  and  published ;  and  the 
present  volume  is  the  outcome  of  these  suggestions. 

It  is  realized  that  much  of  what  might  properly  appear  in  a  private 
record  will  be  considered  rather  superfluous  in  a  book  designed  for  wider 
circulation.  For  instance,  a  good  deal  of  space  is  given  to  details  of  the 
trial  and  the  prison  life  of  the  Reformers,  which  are  of  no  interest 
whatever  to  the  pubhe,  although  they  form  a  record  which  the  men 
themselves  may  hke  to  preserve.  These  might  have  been  omitted  but 
that  the  writer  desired  to  make  no  alterations  in  the  original  text  except 
in  the  nature  of  hterary  revision. 


xxvi  i^EFAOE 

The  writer  may  be  charged  by  the  •*  peace  "  party  with  deliberately 
selecting  a  critical  and  anxious  time  as  opportune  to  contribute  a  new 
factor  to  those  already  militating  against  a  peaceful  settlement.  Two 
replies  could  be  made  to  this — one  an  excuse  and  one  an  answer.  It 
would  be  an  excuse  that  the  writer  did  not  dehberately  select  the  time 
of  publication,  but  that  the  Transvaal  Government  in  its  wisdom  chose 
to  impose  silence  for  three  years,  and  that  the  project  with  which  their 
action  had  interfered  was  resumed  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
The  coincidence  of  another  crisis  with  the  date  of  emancipation  may 
be  an  imlucky  coincidence,  or  it  may  be  a  result.  But  there  is  neither 
necessity  nor  intention  to  offer  excuses.  The  responsibility  is  accepted, 
and  the  answer  is  that  a  case  so  sound  needs  only  to  be  understood, 
that  a  recital  of  the  facts  must  help  to  dispel  the  mists  of  race  prejudice 
and  misunderstanding  which  are  obscuring  the  judgment  of  many; 
and  that  a  firm  but  strictly  just  and  dignified  handling  of  the  question 
by  the  Imperial  Government  is  the  only  possible  way  to  avert  a  cata- 
strophe in  South  Africa.  It  is  essential,  therefore,  that  first  of  aU  the 
conditions  as  they  are  should  be  understood  ;  and  this  record  is  offered 
as  a  contribution  to  that  end.  Let  the  measure  of  its  truth  be  the 
measure  of  its  usefulness  ! 

The  reader  is  not  invited  to  believe  that  the  case  is  presented  in  such 
form  as  it  might  have  been  presented  by  an  impartiallhistorian.  It  is  the 
Transvaal /rowi  ivithin,  by  one  who  feels  all  the  injustice  and  indignity  of 
the  position.  With  the  knowledge,  however,  that  a  good  case  is  spoiled 
by  overstatement,  and  with  the  desire  to  avoid  injustice  to  others,  an 
earnest  attempt  has  been  made  to  state  the  facts  fairly.  In  how  far 
that  attempt  has  been  successful  the  reader  must  decide  for  himself. 

J.  P.  F. 

July,  1899. 


NOTE 

It  has  been  impossible  to  avoid  in  this  volume  more  or  less  pointed  reference 
to  certain  nationalities  in  certain  connections — for  instance,  such  expressions 
as  '  the  Boers,'  '  the  Cape  Dutch,'  '  the  Hollanders,'  '  the  Germans,'  are  used. 
The  writer  desires  to  say  once  and  for  all  that,  unless  the  contrary  is 
obviously  and  deliberately  indicated,  the  distinctions  between  nationalities 
are  intended  in  the  political  sense  only,  and  not  in  the  racial  sense,  and  if 
by  mischance  there  should  be  found  something  in  these  pages  which  seems 
offensive,  he  begs  the  more  indulgent  interpretation  on  the  gi'ound  of  a  very 
earnest  desire  to  remove  and  not  to  accentuate  race  distinctions. 

General  references  are  also  made  to  classes — 'the  civil  service,'  'the 
officials,'  etc.  There  are  officials  in  the  Transvaal  service  who  would  earn 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  public  in  any  administration  in  the  world. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  there  is  no  intention  to  disparage  them. 


THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 


PART  I. -A  PRIVATE  RECORD 
CHAPTEE  I 

IN    EAELIER    DAYS 

When,  before  resorting  to  extreme  measures  to  obtain  what  the 
Uitlanders  deemed  to  be  their  bare  rights,  the  final  appeal  or  declara- 
tion was  made  on  Boxing  Day,  1895,  in  the  form  of  the  manifesto 
published  by  the  Chairman  of  the  National  Union,  President  Kruger, 
after  an  attentive  consideration  of  the  document  as  translated  to  him, 
remarked  grimly :  '  Their  rights.  Yes,  they'll  get  them — over  my 
dead  bodyl'  And  volumes  of  explanation  could  not  better  illustrate 
the  Boer  attitude  and  policy  towards  the  English-speaking  immigrants. 

'  L'Etat  c'est  moi '  is  almost  as  true  of  the  old  Dopper  President  as 
it  was  of  its  originator ;  for  in  matters  of  external  pohcy  and  in  matters 
which  concern  the  Boers  as  a  party  the  President  has  his  way  as  surely 
and  as  completely  as  any  anointed  autocrat.  To  anyone  who  has 
studied  the  Boers  and  their  ways  and  poUcy — who  has  given  more 
than  passing  consideration  to  the  incidents  and  negotiations  of  the 
present  year^ — it  must  be  clear  that  President  Kruger  does  something 
more  than  represent  the  opinion  of  the  people  and  execute  their  policy : 
he  moulds  them  in  the  form  he  wills.  By  the  force  of  his  own  strong 
convictions  and  prejudices,  and  of  his  indomitable  will,  he  has  made 
the  Boers  a  people  whom  he  regards  as  the  germ  of  the  Africander 
nation;  a  people  chastened,  selected,  welded,  and  strong  enough  to 
attract  and  assimilate  all  their  kindred  in  South  Africa,  and  then  to 
realize  the  dream  of  a  Dutch  Kepublic  from  the  Zambesi  to  Capetown. 

In  the  history  of  South  Africa  the  figure  of  the  grim  old  President 
will  loom  large  and  strilcing — picturesque,  as  the  figure  of  one  who  by 
^  Written  in  1896. 

1 


2  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

his  character  and  will  made  and  held  his  people ;  magnificent,  as  one 
who  in  the  face  of  the  blackest  fortune  never  wavered  from  his  aim  or 
faltered  in  His  effort  jWiio,  with  a  courage  that  seemed,  and  still  seems, 
fatuous.  Hut"  which  may  well  be  called  heroic,  stood  up  against  the 
mighiipf,  fl\G'gre€(;fces't  ^uaph'-e  ih  the  world.  And,  it  may  be,  pathetic, 
too,  as  one  whose  liihi'tatib'ns  were  great,  one  whose  training  and 
associations— whose  very  successes — had  narrowed,  and  embittered  and 
hardened  him ;  as  one  who,  when  the  greatness  of  success  was  his  to 
take  and  to  hold,  turned  his  back  on  the  supreme  opportunity,  and 
used  his  strength  and  qualities  to  fight  against  the  spirit  of  progress, 
and  all  that  the  enlightenment  of  the  age  pronounces  to  be  fitting  and 
necessary  to  good  government  and  a  healthy  State. 

To  an  English  nobleman,  who,  in  the  course  of  an  interview,  re- 
marked, '  My  father  was  a  Minister  of  England,  and  twice  Viceroy  of 
Ireland,'  the  old  Dutchman  answered,  *  And  my  father  was  a  shepherd  1' 
It  was  not  pride  rebiiking  pride ;  it  was  the  ever-present  fact  which 
would  not  have  been  worth  mentioning  but  for  the  suggestion  of  the 
antithesis.  He  too  was  a  shepherd,  and  is — a  peasant.  It  may  be 
that  he  knows  what  would  be  right  and  good  for  his  people,  and  it  may 
be  not ;  but  it  is  sure  that  he  realizes  that  to  educate  would  be  to 
emancipate,  to  broaden  their  views  would  be  to  break  down  the  defences 
of  their  prejudices,  to  let  in  the  new  leaven  would  be  to  spoil  the  old 
bread,  to  give  unto  all  men  the  rights  of  men  would  be  to  swamp  for 
ever  the  party  which  is  to  him  greater  than  the  State.  V^hen  one 
thinks  on  the  one-century  history  of  tiie  people,  much  is  seen  that 
accounts  for  their  extraordinary  love  of  isolation,  and  their  ingrained 
and  passionate  aversion  to  control ;  much  too  that  draws  to  them  a 
world  of  sympathy.  And  when  one  realizes  the  old  Dopper  President 
hemmed  in  once  more  by  the  hurrying  tide  of  civilization,  from  which 
his  people  have  fled  for  generations — trying  to  fight  both  fate  and 
Nature — standing  up  to  stem  a  tide  as  resistless  as  the  eternal  sea — 
one  sees  the  pathos  of  the  picture.  But  this  is  as  another  generation 
may  see  it.  To-day  we  are  too  close — so  close  that  the  meaner  details, 
the  blots  and  flaws,  are  all  most  plainly  visible ;  the  corruption,  the 
insincerity,  the  injustice,  the  barbarity — all  the  unlovely  touches  that 
will  by-and-by  be  forgotten — sponged  away  by  the  gentle  hand  of  time, 
when  only  the  picturesque  wiU  remain. 

In  order  to  understand  the  deep,  ineradicable  aversion  to  English 
rule  which  is  in  the  heart  and  the  blood  and  the  bones  of  every  Boer,  and 
of  a  great  many  of  their  kindred  who  are  themselves  British  subjects, 
one  must  recall  the  conditions  under  v/hich  the  Dutch  came  under 
British  rule.  When,  in  1814,  the  Cape  v/as  finally  ceded  to  England, 
it  had  been  twice  acquired  and  held  by  conquest.  The  colonists  were 
practically  all  Dutch,  or  Huguenots  who  had  adopted  Dutch  as  their 
language,  and  South  Africa  as  their  home.     In  any  case,  they  were 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  3 

people  who,  by  tradition,  teaching  and  experience,  must  have  regarded 
the  English  as  their  enemies  ;  people  in  whom  there  must  have  been 
roused  bitter  resentment  against  being  handed  over  with  the  land  to 
their  traditional  enemies.  Were  they  serfs  or  subjects  ?  has  been  asked 
on  their  behalf.  Had  Holland  the  right,  the  power,  over  freemen  born, 
to  say  to  them,  *  You  are  our  subjects,  on  our  soil,  and  we  have  trans- 
ferred the  soil  and  with  it  your  allegiance  to  England,  whose  sovereignty 
you  will  not  be  free  to  repudiate  '?  The  Dutch  colonist  said  *  No.'  The 
English  Government  and  the  laws  of  the  day  said  *  Yes.' 

Early  in  the  century  the  Boers  began  to  trek  away  from  the  sphere 
of  British  rule.  They  were  trekkers  before  that,  indeed.  Even  in  the 
days  of  Van  Riebeck  (1650)  they  had  trekked  away  from  the  crowded 
parts,  and  opened  up  with  the  rifle  and  the  plough  new  reaches  of 
country ;  pioneering  in  a  rough  but  most  effective  way,  driving  back 
the  savage  races  and  clearing  the  way  for  civihzation.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  great  difference  to  be  noted  between  the  early  treks  of  the 
emigrants  and  the  treks  '  from  British  rule.'  In  the  former  (with  few 
exceptions)  they  went,  knowing  that  their  Government  would  follow 
them,  and  even  anxious  to  have  its  support  and  its  representatives ; 
and  the  people  who  formed  their  migrating  parties  were  those  who  had 
no  or  insufficient  land  in  the  settled  parts,  those  who  were  starting  life 
on  their  own  account,  or  those  whose  families  could  not  be  located  and 
provided  for  in  the  cramped  circumstances  of  the  more  occupied  parts. 
In  the  other  case,  rich  and  poor,  old  and  young,  went  off  as  in  the  days 
and  in  the  fashion  of  Moses  or  Abraham.  They  went  without  leave  or 
help  of  the  Government ;  secretly  or  openly  they  went,  and  they  asked 
nothing  but  to  be  left  alone.  Thej^  left  their  homes,  their  people,  the 
protection  of  an  established  Government  and  a  rough  civilization,  and 
went  out  into  the  unknown.  And  they  had,  as  it  appeared  to  them, 
and  as  it  will  appear  to  many  others,  good  reasons  for  takmg  so  grave 
a  step.  For,  although  the  colonists  of  South  Africa  enjoyed  better 
government,  and  infinitely  more  liberty,  under  British  rule,  than  they 
had  under  the  tyrannical  Hgime  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company 
twenty  years  before  (against  which  the  Boers  had  twice  risen  in  re- 
bellion), there  were  many  things  which  were  not  as  they  should  have 
been.  A  generation  had  grown  up  which  knew  nothing  of  the  arbitrary 
and  oppressive  rule  of  the  old  Dutch  Company.  Simple  folks  have 
long  memories,  and  all  the  world  over  injuries  make  a  deeper  and  more 
lasting  impression  than  benefits  ;  and  the  older  generation  of  Boers, 
which  could  recall  a  condition  of  things  contrasting  unpleasantly  with 
British  rule,  also  remembered  the  executions  of  Slagters  Nek — a  vindi- 
cation of  the  law  which,  when  all  allowance  has  been  made  for  disturbed 
times,  and  the  need  of  strong  measures  to  stop  rebellion  in  a  newly- 
acquired  country,  seems  to  us  to-day  to  have  been  harsh,  unnecessary, 
and  unwise  in  policy,  and  truly  terrible  in  the  manner  of  fulfilment. 

1—2 


4  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  Boers  have  produced  from  their  own  ranks  no  literary  champion 
to  plead  or  defend  their  cause,  and  their  earlier  history  is  therefore 
little  known,  and  often  misunderstood;  but  to  their  aid  has  come 
Mr.  George  McCall  Theal,  the  South  African  historian,  whose  years  of 
laborious  research  have  rescued  for  South  Africa  much  that  would 
otherwise  have  been  lost.  In  his  '  History  of  the  Boers  '  Mr.  Theal 
records  the  causes  of  the  great  emigration,  and  shows  how  the  Boers 
stood  up  for  fair  treatment,  and  fought  the  cause,  not  of  Boers  alone, 
but  of  all  colonists.  Boers  and  British  were  alike  harshly  and 
ignorantly  treated  by  high-handed  Governors,  and  an  ill-informed  and 
prejudiced  Colonial  Office,  who  made  no  distinction  on  the  grounds  of 
nationality  between  the  two ;  for  we  read  that  Englishmen  had  been 
expelled  the  country,  thrown  in  gaol,  had  their  property  confiscated, 
and  their  newspapers  suppressed  for  asserting  their  independence,  and 
for  trifling  breaches  of  harsh  laws.  The  following  extract  gives  the 
best  possible  synopsis  of  the  causes,  and  should  whet  an  appetite  which 
can  be  gratified  by  the  purchase  of  Mr.  Theal's  book: 

Why,  then,  did  these  men  abandon  their  homes,  sacrifice  whatever  pro- 
perty could  not  be  carried  away,  and  flee  from  English  rule  as  from  the  most 
hateful  tyranny  ?  The  causes  are  stated  in  a  great  mass  of  correspondence 
addressed  by  them  to  the  Colonial  Government,  and  now  preserved,  with 
other  colonial  records,  in  declarations  published  by  some  of  them  before 
leaving,  in  letters  to  their  relatives  and  to  newspapers,  and  in  hundreds  of 
pages  of  printed  matter,  prepared  by  friendly  and  hostile  hands.  The  declara- 
tion of  one  of  the  ablest  men  among  them  assigns  the  following  as  the  motives 
of  himself  and  the  party  that  went  with  him  : 

'Graham's  Town, 

'  January  22,  1837. 

*  1.  We  despair  of  saving  the  colony  from  those  evils  which  threaten  it  by 
the  turbulent  and  dishonest  conduct  of  vagrants  who  are  allowed  to  infest 
the  country  in  every  part ;  nor  do  we  see  any  prospect  of  peace  or  happiness 
for  our  children  in  a  country  thus  distracted  by  internal  commotions. 

'  2.  We  complain  of  the  severe  losses  which  we  have  been  forced  to  sustain 
by  the  emancipation  of  our  slaves  and  the  vexatious  laws  which  have  been 
enacted  respecting  them. 

'  3.  Wo  complain  of  the  continual  system  of  plunder  which  we  have  for 
years  endured  from  the  Kaffirs  and  other  coloured  classes,  and  particularly  by 
the  last  invasion  of  the  colony,  which  has  desolated  the  frontier  districts  and 
ruined  most  of  the  inhabitants. 

*  4.  We  complain  of  the  unjustifiable  odium  which  has  been  cast  upon  us 
by  interested  and  dishonest  persons,  under  the  name  of  religion,  whose  testi- 
mony is  believed  in  England  to  the  exclusion  of  all  evidence  in  our  favour ; 
and  we  can  foresee,  as  the  result  of  this  prejudice,  nothing  but  the  total  ruin 
of  the  country. 

*  5.  We  are  resolved,  wherever  we  go,  that  we  will  uphold  the  just  prin- 
cii)les  of  liberty  ;  but,  whilst  we  will  take  care  that  no  one  is  brought  by  us 
into  a  condition  of  slavery,  we  will  establish  such  regulations  as  may  suppress 
crime  and  preserve  proper  relations  between  master  and  servant. 

'  6.  We  solemnly  declare  that  we  leave  this  colony  with  a  desire  to  enjoy 
a  quieter  life  than  we  have  hitherto  had.     We  will  not  molest  any  people, 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  5 

nor  deprive  them  of  the  smallest  property  ;  but,  if  attacked,  we  shall  consider 
ourselves  fully  justified  in  defending  our  persons  and  effects,  to  the  utmost 
of  our  ability,  against  every  enemy. 

'  7.  We  make  known  that  when  we  shall  have  frarnqd  a  code  of  laws  for 
our  guidance,  copies  shall  be  forwarded  to  this  colony  for  general  informa- 
tion ;  but  we  take  the  opportunity  of  stating  that  it  is  our  firm  resolve  to 
make  provision  for  the  summary  punishment,  even  with  death,  of  all  traitors, 
without  exception,  who  may  be  found  amongst  us. 

'  8.  We  purpose,  in  the  course  of  our  journey  and  on  arrival  at  the  country 
in  which  we  shall  permanently  reside,  to  make  known  to  the  native  tribes 
our  intentions  and  our  desire  to  live  in  peace  and  friendly  intercourse  with 
them. 

'  9.  We  quit  this  colony  under  the  full  assurance  that  the  English  Govern- 
ment has  nothing  more  to  require  of  us,  and  will  allow  us  to  govern  ourselves 
without  its  interference  in  future. 

'  10.  We  are  now  leaving  the  fruitful  land  of  our  birth,  in  which  Ave  have 
suffered  enormous  losses  and  continued  vexation,  and  are  about  to  enter  a 
strange  and  dangerous  territory  ;  but  we  go  with  a  firm  reliance  on  an  all- 
seeing,  just,  and  merciful  God,  whom  we  shall  always  fear  and  humbly 
endeavour  to  obey. 

'  In  the  name  of  all  who  leave  the  colony  with  me, 

*P.  Retief.' 

But  formal  declarations  such  as  the  above  are  not  in  all  instances  to  be 
trusted.  It  is  nmch  safer  to  compare  numerous  documents  Avritten  at  different 
times,  by  different  persons,  and  under  different  circumstances.  For  om- 
subject  this  means  of  information  is  as  complete  as  can  be  desired.  The 
correspondence  of  the  emigrants  with  the  Cape  Government  was  the  work  of 
many  individuals  and  extended  over  many  years.  The  letters  are  usually 
of  great  length,  badly  constructed,  and  badly  spelt — the  productions,  in 
short,  of  uneducated  men  ;  but  so  uniform  is  the  vein  of  thought  running 
through  them  all,  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  condensing 
them  into  a  dozen  pages.  When  analyzed,  the  statements  contained  in  them 
are  found  to  consist  of  two  charges,  one  against  the  Imperial  Government 
the  other  against  the  agents  in  South  Africa  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society. 

The  Imperial  Government  was  charged  with  exposing  the  white  inhabitants 
of  the  colony,  without  protection,  to  robbery  and  murder  by  the  blacks  ; 
with  giving  credence  in  every  dispute  to  statements  made  by  interested 
persons  in  favour  of  savages,  while  refusing  to  credit  the  testimony,  no 
matter  how  reliable,  of  colonists  of  European  extraction  ;  with  liberating  the 
slaves  in  an  unjust  manner  ;  and  generally  with  such  undue  partiality  for 
persons  with  black  skins  and  savage  habits  as  to  make  it  preferable  to  seek  a 
new  home  in  the  wilderness  than  remain  under  the  English  flag. 

The  missionaries  of  the  London  Society  were  charged  with  usurping 
authority  that  should  properly  belong  to  the  civil  magistrate  ;  with  mis- 
representing facts  ;  and  with  advocating  schemes  directly  hostile  to  the 
progress  of  civilization  and  to  the  observance  of  order.  And  it  was  asserted 
that  the  influence  of  these  missionaries  was  all-powerful  at  the  Colonial  OflSce 
in  London,  by  which  the  colony,  without  a  voice  in  the  management  of  its 
affairs,  was  then  ruled  absolutely. 

In  support  of  the  charges  against  the  Imperial  Government,  the  emigrants 
dwelt  largely  upon  the  devastation  of  the  eastern  districts  by  the  Kaffirs' 
inroad  of  December,  1834,  which  was  certainly  unprovoked  by  the  colonists. 
Yet  Lord  Glenelg,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  justified 


6  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

the  Kaffirs,  and  not  only  refused  to  punish  them,  but  actually  gave  them  a 
large  slip  of  land,  including  the  dense  jungles  along  the  Fish  River,  that 
had  long  been  part  of  the  colony  ;  and  made  no  other  provision  agaiust  the 
recurrence  of  a  destructive  invasion  than  a  series  of  treaties  with  a  number 
of  barbarous  chiefs,  who  had  no  regard  for  their  engagements.  This  event  is 
the  most  prominent  feature  in  the  correspondence  of  the  emigrants ;  it  is 
fairly  recorded,  and  the  language  used  in  general  much  more  moderate  than 
that  employed  by  the  English  frontier  colonists  when  relating  the  same 
circumstance. 

Next  stands  the  removal  of  all  restraint  from  the  coloured  population  of 
the  colony,  without  the  protection  to  the  whites  of  even  a  Vagrant  Act. 
Several  of  the  colonial  divisions  had  been  for  ten  or  twelve  years  overrun  by 
fugitives  from  the  Basuto  and  Betslmana  countries,  who  had  been  driven 
from  their  own  homes  by  tlie  troubles  already  recorded.  These  people  Avere 
usually  termed  Mantatees  or  Makatees,  from  the  supposition  that  they  were 
all  subjects  of  Ma  Ntatisi.  Towards  the  eastern  frontiers  Kafhrs,  and  after 
the  war  Fingos,  wandered  about  practically  wherever  they  chose.  In  the 
remainder  of  the  colony  Hottentots,  free  blacks,  and  mixed  breeds  came  and 
went  as  they  pleased.  How  is  it  possible,  said  the  farmei's,  for  us  to  culti- 
vate the  ground  or  breed  cattle  with  all  these  savages  and  semi-savages 
constantly  watching  for  opportunities  to  plunder  us — with  no  police  and  no 
law  under  which  suspicious  characters  can  be  arrested  and  made  to  account 
for  their  manner  of  living  ? 

Much  is  said  of  the  reproofs  of  Sir  Benjamin  D'Urban  by  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and,  after  1838,  of  the  dismissal  of  that  Governor.  (1)  The  emigrants 
asserted  tliat  he  was  the  best  Governor  the  colony  had  had  sii.ce  it  became 
subject  to  England  ;  they  dwelt  upon  his  benevolence,  his  ability,  his  strict 
justice,  his  impartiality  to  white  and  black,  his  efforts  to  promote  civiliza- 
tion ;  and  then  they  comnlained,  in  words  more  bitter  than  arc  to  be  found 
when  they  referred  to  any  other  subject,  that  the  good  Governor  had  been 
reproved,  and  finally  deprived  of  his  office,  because  he  had  told  the  plain 
truth,  regardless  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  had  endeavoured  to 
mete  out  to  black  criminals  the  same  justice  that  he  would  have  meted  out 
had  they  been  white.  There  is  now  no  one  in  South  Africa  who  does  not 
agree  with  the  emigrants  in  this  matter.  Nearly  half  a  century  has  passed 
away  since  Sir  Benjamin  D'Urban  was  forced  into  retirement  by  Lord 
Glenelg ;  and  during  that  period  the  principal  measures  which  he  proposed 
have  been  approved  of  and  adopted,  while  the  successors  of  those  mission- 
aries who  were  his  bitter  ojip'onents  are  at  present  among  the  strongest 
advocates  of  his  system  of  dealing  Avith  the  natives. 

Sir  Benjamin  D'Urban  remained  in  South  Africa,  after  being  deprived  of 
office,  until  the  reversal  ot  his  policy  towards  the  natives  was  admitted  by 
most  people  even  in  England  to  have  been  a  mistake.  He  did  not  leave  the 
Cape  until  April,  1846,  just  after  the  commencement  of  the  War  of  the  Axe. 

Concerning  the  liberation  of  the  slaves,  there  is  less  in  this  coixespondence 
than  one  might  reasonably  expect  to  find.  Many  scores  of  pages  can  be 
examined  without  any  allusion  whatever  to  it.  Nowhere  is  there  a  single 
word  to  be  found  in  favour  of  slavery  as  an  institution ;  the  view  of  the 
emigrants,  with  hardl}^  an  exception,  being  fairly  represented  in  the  follow- 
ing sentence,  taken  from  a  letter  of  the  Volksraad  at  Natal  to  Sir  George 
Napier :  *  A  long  and  sad  experience  has  sufficiently  convinced  us  of  the 
injury,  loss,  and  dearness  of  slave  labour,  so  that  neither  slavery  nor  the 
slave  trade  will  ever  be  permitted  among  us.' 

[The  allusions  to  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  to  slavery  as  an 


m  EARLIER  DAYS  7 

institution,  will  be  considered  by  many  to  need  some  modification  or 
explanation.  The  Dutch  even  to-day  speak  of  the  emancipation  as 
the  real  cause  of  the  great  exodus ;  and  the  system  of  indenture,  and 
the  treatment  of  natives  generally  by  the  Boers,  cannot  fairly  be 
regarded  as  warranting  the  view  expressed  by  Mr.  Theal  in  connec- 
tion with  this  letter  to  Sir  George  Napier.] 

It  is  alleged,  however,  that  the  emancipation,  as  it  was  carried  out,  was  an 
act  of  confiscation.  It  is  stated  that  most  of  the  slaves  were  brought  to  the 
colony  in  English  ships  and  sold  by  English  subjects  ;  that  when,  in  1795, 
the  colony  was  invited  by  English  officers  of  high  rank  to  place  itself  under 
the  protection  of  England,  one  of  the  inducements  held  out  was  security  in 
slave  property  ;  at  the  same  time  those  officers  warning  the  colonists  that  if 
France  obtained  possession  she  would  liberate  the  slaves,  as  she  had  done  in 
Martinique,  thereby  ruining  this  colony  as  she  had  ruined  that  island  ;  that 
the  English  Government  had  recently  and  suddenly  changed  its  policy,  and 
required  them  to  conform  to  the  change  with  equal  alacrity,  whereas  they 
were  convinced  that  gradual  emancipation,  with  securities  against  vagrancy, 
was  the  only  safe  course.  The  emancipation  had  been  sudden,  and  the 
slaves  had  been  placed  upon  a  perfect  political  equality  with  their  former 
Ijroprietors.  The  missionaries  applauded  this  as  a  noble  and  generous  act  of 
the  Imperial  Government,  and  they  were  told  that  by  everyone  in  England 
it  was  so  regarded.  But  at  Avhose  expense  was  this  noble  and  generous  act 
carried  out  ?  Agents  of  the  Imperial  Government  had  appraised  the  slaves, 
generally  at  less  than  their  market  value.  Two-fifths  of  this  appraisement, 
being  the  share  apportioned  to  the  Cape  out  of  the  twenty  million  pounds 
sterling  voted  by  the  Imperial  Parliament,  had  then  been  offered  to  the 
proprietors  as  compensation,  if  they  chose  to  go  to  London  for  it,  otherwise 
they  could  only  dispose  of  their  claims  at  a  heavy  discount.  Thus,  in  point 
of  fact,  only  about  one-thud  of  the  appraised  amount  had  been  received. 
To  all  slave-holders  this  had  meant  a  great  reduction  cf  wealth,  while  to 
many  of  those  who  were  in  debt  it  was  equivalent  to  the  utter  deprivation  of 
property. 

As  regards  the  missionaries,  a  crusade  was  organized  by  some  of 
these  worthies,  who  had  themselves  married  Kaffir  women,  and  who 
spared  no  effort  and  showed  no  scruple  in  blackening  the  name  of 
colonist. 

The  views  and  interests  of  the  colonists  and  of  these  men  were  so  diflferent 
that  concord  Avas  hardly  possible.  The  missionaries  desired  that  the  blacks 
should  be  collected  together  in  villages :  the  colonists  were  unwilling  that 
they  should  be  thus  withdrawn  from  service.  '  Teach  them  the  first  step  in 
civilization,  to  labour  honestly  for  their  maintenance,  and  add  to  that  oral 
instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,'  said  the  colonists.  'Why 
should  they  be  debarred  from  learning  to  read  and  write  ?  And  as  there  can 
only  be  schools  if  they  are  brought  together  in  villages,  why  should  they  not 
be  collected  together  V  replied  tlie  missionaries. 

Then  came  another  and  a  larger  question.  By  whom  should  the  waste 
places  of  the  land,  the  vast  areas  which  were  without  other  occupants  than  a 
few  roving  Bushmen,  be  peopled  ?  *  By  the  white  man, '  said  the  colonists  ; 
*  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  world  in  all  time  to  come  that  the  higher  race 
should  expand  and  be  dominant  here ;  it  would  be  treason  to  humanity  to 


8  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

prevent  its  growth  where  it  can  grow  without  wrong  to  others,  or  to  plant  an 
inferior  stock  where  the  superior  can  take  root  and  flourish.'  '  By  Africans,' 
said  the  missionaries  ;  '  this  is  Afiican  soil  ;  and  if  mission  stations  are  estab- 
lished on  its  desolate  tracts,  people  will  be  drawn  to  them  from  the  far 
interior,  the  community  will  grow  rapidly,  those  enlightened  by  Christianity 
here  will  desire  in  their  turn  to  enlighten  their  friends  beyond,  and  thus  the 
Gospel  teaching  will  spread  until  all  Africa  stretches  out  its  hands  to  God.' 
Coupled  with  such  arguments,  which  were  constantly  used  by  missionaries  in 
the  early  part  of  this  century,  before  their  enthusiasm  was  cooled  by  experi- 
ence, were  calculations  that  appealed  strongly  to  the  commercial  instincts  of 
people  in  England.  A  dozen  colonial  farmers  required  something  like  a 
hundred  square  miles  of  land  for  their  cattle  runs  ;  on  this  same  ground, 
under  missionary  supervision,  three  or  four  hundred  families  of  blacks  could 
exist ;  these  blacks  would  shortly  need  large  quantities  of  manufactured 
goods,  and  thus  it  would  be  to  the  interest  of  trade  to  encourage  them  rather 
than  the  colonists.  '  Already, '  said  they,  '  after  only  a  few  years'  training, 
many  blacks  can  read  as  well  or  better  than  the  ordinary  colonists,  and  are 
exhibiting  a  decided  taste  for  civilization.' 

There  was  thus  a  broad  line  of  demarcation  between  the  colonists  and  such 
of  the  missionaries  as  lield  these  views,  and  the  tendency  on  each  side  was  to 
make  it  still  broader.  It  was  deepened  into  positive  antipathy  towards  those 
missionaries  who,  following  Dr.  Vanderkemp's  example,  united  themselves  in 
marriage  with  black  women,  and  proclaimed  themselves  the  champions  of  the 
black  population  against  tlie  white.  Everyone  acquainted  with  South  African 
natives  knows  how  ready  they  are  to  please  their  friends  by  bringing  forward 
charges  against  anyone  whom  those  friends  dislike.  Unfortunately,  the  mis- 
sionaries Vanderkemp  and  Read  were  deceived  into  believing  a  great  number 
of  charges  of  cruelty  made  against  various  colonists,  which  a  little  observation 
would  have  shown  in  most  instances  to  be  groundless  ;  and  thereupon  they 
lodged  accusations  before  the  High  Court  of  Justice.  In  1811  between  seventy 
and  eighty  such  cases  came  before  the  Circuit  Court  for  trial.  There  was 
hardly  a  family  on  the  frontier  of  which  some  relative  was  not  brought  as  a 
criminal  before  the  judges  to  answer  to  a  charge  of  murder  or  violent  assault. 
Several  months  were  occupied  in  the  trials,  and  more  than  a  thousand  wit- 
nesses were  examined,  but  in  every  instance  the  most  serious  charges  were 
proved  to  be  without  foundation.  Only  a  few  convictions,  and  those  of  no 
very  outrageous  crimes,  resulted  from  these  prosecutions,  which  kept  the 
entire  colonj'"  in  a  ferment  until  long  after  the  circuit  was  closed. 

Thus  far  everyone  will  approve  of  the  sentiments  of  one  party  or  the  other 
according  to  his  sympathy,  but  in  what  follows  no  unprejudiced  person  who 
^^ill  take  the  trouble  to  study  the  matter  thoroughly  can  acquit  the  anti- 
colonial  missionaries  of  something  more  faulty  than  mere  error  of  judgment. 
For  years  their  writings  teemed  with  charges  against  the  colonists  similar  to 
those  they  had  brought  before  the  High  Court  of  Justice.  These  writings 
were  circulated  widely  in  Europe,  where  the  voice  of  the  colonists  was  neve^ 
heard,  and  they  created  impressions  there  which  no  refutation  made  in  South 
Africa  could  ever  counteract.  The  acts,  the  language,  even  the  written 
petitions  of  the  colonists,  were  so  distorted  in  accounts  sent  home  that  these 
accounts  cannot  now  be  read  by  those  who  have  made  themselves  acquainted 
with  the  truth  without  the  liveliest  feelings  of  indignation  being  excited. 

The  colonists  learned  that  in  England  they  were  regarded  as  cruel  bar- 
barians because  they  refused  to  permit  Hottentot  herds,  swarming  "v^-ith 
vermin,  to  be  seated  in  their  front  rooms  at  the  time  of  family  prayer.  They 
found  tliemseh-es  pictured  as  the  harshest  of  taskmasters,  as  unfeeling 
violators  of  nntive  rights.     And  of  late  years  it  had  become  plain  to  them 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  9 

that  the  views   of  their  opponents  were  being  acted  upon  at  the  Colonial 
Office,  while  their  complaints  were  wholly  disregarded. 

Several  causes  of  dissatisfaction,  besides  those  above  mentioned,  contributed 
to  the  impulse  of  emigration,  but  all  in  a  very  slight  degree.  _  Judge  Cloete, 
in  his  'Five  Lectures,'  mentions  the  severe  punishment  inflicted  upon  the 
frontier  insurgents  of  1815  as  one  of  them  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was 
80  M-ith  some  families,  though  no  trace  of  it  can  be  found  in  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  emigrants.  The  substitution  in  1827  of  the  English  for  the  Dutch 
language  in  the  colonial  courts  of  law  was  certainly  generally  felt  as  a 
grievance.  The  alteration  in  1813  of  the  system  of  land  tenure,  the  redemp- 
tion in  1825  of  the  paper  currency  at  only  thirty-six  hundredths  of  its 
nominal  value,  and  the  abolition  in  1827  of  the  courts  of  landdrost  and  heem- 
raden,  unquestionably  caused  much  dissatisfaction,  though  all  of  these 
measures  are  now  admitted  by  everyone  to  have  been  beneficial.  The  long 
delay  in  issuing  titles  to  farms,  the  cost  of  which  has  been  paid  to  Govern- 
ment years  before,  is  mentioned  as  a  grievance  in  some  of  the  declarations. 

Two  parties — men,  women,  and  children — numbering  ninety-eight 
in  all,  pioneered  the  great  trek ;  of  these  twenty-six  survived  fever  and 
fighting,  loss  of  provisions,  waggons,  and  cattle,  and  a  long  weary 
tramp  from  Zoutpansberg  to  Delagoa  Bay,  and  were  rescued  and  taken 
thence  to  Natal,  and  two  children  were  carried  off  by  the  natives.  The 
survivors  were  three  women  with  their  twelve  children — seven  orphan 
children  and  four  youths.     Not  a  single  grown  man  escaped. 

During  the  winter  of  1836  preparations  for  emigration  were  being  made 
over  the  eastern  and  midland  districts.  The  Governor  was  perfectly  helpless 
in  the  matter.  Tht  Attorney-General,  Mr.  A.  Oliphant,  was  consulted  by 
the  Governor,  and  gave  his  opinion  that  '  it  seemed  next  to  an  impossibility 
to  prevent  persons  passing  out  of  the  colony  by  laws  in  force,  or  by  any  which 
could  be  framed.'  On  August  19  Sir  Benjamin  D'Urban  Aviote  to  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, Sir  Andries  Stockenstrom,  that  'he  could  see  no  means  of 
stopping  the  emigration,  except  by  persuasion,  and  attention  to  the  wants 
and  necessities  of  the  farmers.'  In  that  direction  the  Governor  had  done  all 
that  was  in  his  power,  but  he  could  not  act  in  opposition  to  the  instructions 
of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Sir  Andries  Stockenstrom  himself,  in  replying  to 
an  address  from  the  inhabitants  of  Uitenhage,  stated  that  '  he  was  not  aware 
of  any  law  which  prevented  any  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  from  leaving  his 
dominions  and  settling  in  another  country ;  and  such  a  law,  if  it  did  exist, 
would  be  tyrannical  and  oppressive.' 

The  story  of  the  trekkers  is  one  of  surpassing  interest,  and  must 
enlist  for  them  the  sy^mpathy  and  unbounded  admiration  of  all. 

By  the  middle  of  the  year  1837  there  were  over  one  thousand 
waggons  between  the  Caledon  and  Vaal  rivers— truly  a  notable  and 
alarming  exodus  ;  and  the  Boers  then  began  the  work  of  carving  out 
new  countries  tor  themselves.  Their  history  surpasses  all  fiction  in  its 
vicissitudes,  successes,  and  tragedies.  They  fought  and  worked  and 
crekked,  onward,  always  onward,  never  returning — on  beyond  the 
furthermost  outposts  of  civilization. 

And  so  the  story  rolls  on,  gaining  pathos,  but  losing  no  whit  of 
mterest  from  its  eternal  sameness.     They  fought,  and  worked,  and 


10  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

starved,  and  died  for  their  land  of  promise,  where  they  might  hope  to 
be  alone,  like  the  simple  people  of  their  one  Book ;  where  they  might 
never  know  the  hated  British  rule ;  where  they  might  never  experience 
the  forms  and  trammels,  the  restlessness  and  changes,  the  worries, 
the  necessities  or  benefits,  of  progressing  civilization.  Their  quarrel 
had  been  with  the  abuses  and  blunders  of  one  Government ;  but  a 
narrow  experience  moved  them  to  mistrust  all  but  their  own  pastoral, 
patriarchal  way,  moulded  on  the  records  of  the  Bible,  and  to  regard 
the  evidences  of  progress  as  warnings  of  coming  oppression  and  cur- 
tailment of  liberty,  and  a  departure  from  the  simple  and  ideal  way. 
The  abuses  from  which  they  suffered  are  no  more ;  the  methods  which 
were  unjust  have  been  abandoned  ;  the  ignorance  of  the  ruler  has  been 
dispelled  ;  in  place  of  despotism  there  is  autonomy  ;  justice  rules  where 
ignorance  and  bias  sat ;  liberty  where  there  was  interference ;  protec- 
tion for  oppression ;  progress  and  civilization  have  increased  as  in  no 
other  epoch  ;  and  the  nation  and  Government  from  v/hich  they  severed 
themselves  have  taken  their  place  in  the  very  forefront  of  all.  But  the 
Boer  sees  with  the  eyes  of  sixty  years  ago ! 

The  ideal  was  impossible,  the  struggle  hopeless,  the  end  certain. 
They  trekked,  and  trekked,  and  trekked  again ;  but  the  flag  of  England 
—emblem  of  all  they  hated — was  close  by,  behind,  beside,  in  front,  or 
over  them  ;  and  the  something  which  they  could  not  fight — the  ever- 
advancing  tide  of  civilization — lapped  at  their  feet,  %nd  slowly,  silently, 
and  for  ever  blotted  out  the  line  where  they  had  written,  •  Thus  far  and 
no  further.' 

The  South  African  Republic  had  been  in  existence  as  an  independent 
State  for  twelve  years  when  it  reached  that  condition  of  insolvency 
which  appeared  to  invite,  or  at  least  justify,  annexation  as  the  only 
alternative  to  complete  ruin  and  chaos.  And  there  are  very  few,  even 
among  the  most  uncompromising  supporters  of  the  Boers,  who  seriously 
attempt  to  show  that  the  Transvaal  had  any  prospect  of  prolonging  its 
existence  as  an  independent  State  for  more  than  a  few  months  when 
Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  annexed  it  in  1877.  The  following  picture 
is  from  a  book  published  by  the  late  Alfred  Aylward,  the  Fenian,  more 
anti-British  than  the  Boer  himself,  who  was  present  at  the  time,  and 
wrote  his  book  in  order  to  enlist  sympathy  for  the  movement  then 
(1878)  organized  to  obtain  a  cancellation  of  the  annexation.  The  value 
of  Aylward's  testimony  would  not  be  fairly  appreciated  without  some 
explanation. 

Sir  Bartle  Frere  describes  him  (and  quotes  Scotland  Yard  authorities, 
who  knew  him  well)  as  one  of  the  party  who  murdered  the  policeman 
at  Manchester,  and  one  of  the  worst  and  most  active  of  the  dynamiting 
Irishmen — a  professional  agitator,  who  boasted  of  his  purpose  to  pro- 
mote the  Triaiivaal  rebellion.     Major  Le  Caron,  too,  stated  on  oaLii 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  11 

before  the  Parnell  Commission  that  money  was  sent  by  the  Irish  Rebel 
Societies,  through  Aylward,  to  stir  up  the  Transvaal  rebellion.  This 
is  what  Aylward  says  : 

All  South  Africa  was  for  the  moment  at  rest,  with  the  exception  of  the 
district  of  Utrecht,  where  an  old-standing  grievance  Avith  Cetewayo  was  the 
cause  of  some  little  alarm  and  excitement  {i.e.,  Cetewayo'g  threatened 
invasion).  Still,  the  Transvaal  was  disturbed  throughout  its  whole  extent 
by  the  expectation  of  some  pending  change — a  cliange  coming  from  the 
outside,  which  had  been  invited  by  an  active,  discontented  party,  chiefly 
foreigners,  dwellers  in  towns,  non -producers,  place-hunters,  deserters,  refugees, 
land  speculators,  '  development-men, '  and  pests  of  Transvaal  society  generally, 
who  openly  preached  resistance  to  the  law,  refu^^al  to  pay  taxes,  and  contempt 
of  the  natural  and  guaranteed  owners  of  the  country  in  which  they  lived,  in 
the  distinctly  expressed  hope  that  foreign  intervention  would  fill  the  country 
with  British  gold,  and  conduce  to  their  own  material  prosperity.  The  Boers, 
spread  over  a  country  larger  than  France,  were  stunned  into  stupor  by  the 
demonstrative  loudness  of  the  party  of  discontent.  In  some  districts  tiiey 
(the  Boers)  were  poor,  and  could  not  readily  pay  the  taxes  imposed,  upon  them 
by  the  wars  and  railway  projects  of  the  Government.  Their  Yolksraad  was 
in  Session,  but  its  every  action  was  paralyzed  by  the  gloom  of  impending 
dissolution. 

The  Republic  owed  £215,000,  which  it  had  no  immediate  means  of  paying. 
Its  creditors  were  clamorous  ;  whilst  the  Executive,  turn  to  which  side  it 
would,  found  itself  confronted  by  threats,  reproaches,  accusations  of  slavery 
and  cruelty  based  upon  hearsay,  and  which,  like  the  annexation  that  steadily 
approached,  could  not  be  met,  because  neither  of  them  had  yet  assumed  the 
evidenced  consistency  of  actual  fact.  There  was  no  public  opinion  to  support 
the  Government  or  to  save  the  Republic.  The  Boers  lived  far  apart  from 
each  other,  whilst  the  annexationists  and  the  party  of  disorder  dwelt,  in 
compact  communities,  in  towns  and  mining  villages.  Into  the  midst  of  this 
confusion — into  the  capital  of  this  bewildered  State — entered  Sir  Theophilus 
Shepstone  and  his  staff.  He  had  not  come  to  seize  the  country — he  had  come 
as  '  an  adviser,  as  a  helper,  and  as  a  friend  ' ;  but  his  advent  was  a  blight — 
an  incubus  which  rendered  additionally  powerless  the  unfortunate  President 
and  his  Council.  The  coming  of  Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  was,  to  the  minds 
of  nearly  all,  but  too  clearly  the  forerunner  of  change.  In  the  face  of  this 
additional  whet  to  the  anticipations  of  the  party  of  disturbance,  something 
that  has  been  described  as  anarchy  prevailed.  Everyone  waited  ;  all  fell  into 
a  state  of  expectation  ;  no  one  attempted  to  save  the  State,  or  repel  the 
danger.  At  the  same  time,  there  was  no  anarchy  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
word.  Justice  sat  on  her  seat ;  criminals  were  arrested  and  brought  to  trial ; 
actions  at  law  were  heard  and  determined  ;  and  in  no  one  place,  save  the  gold- 
fields,  Avas  authority,  even  for  a  moment,  defied.  There  the  law  vindicated  itself 
without  liaving  used  violence  or  shed  one  drop  of  blood.  Not  one  single 
public  outrage,  not  one  unpunished  crime,  marked  this  period  of  suspense, 
which  is  described  by  partizan  writers  as  a  time  of  chaos  and  anarchy. 

Peace  was  granted  to  Secocoeni,  and  the  quietness  and  gloom  of  the  country 
became  even  more  profound. 

Now,  had  a  commission,  royal  or  joint,  been  opened  in  Pretoria  to  inquire 
into  the  truth  of  the  allegations  made  against  the  Government,  history  might 
perhaps  be  able  to  record  that  judgment,  followed  by  justice,  had  overtaken 
the  Ti'ansvaal.  No  commission  was  opened.  There  was  a  banquet  and  a 
ball.  The  suspense  increased  in  intensity.  Understrappers,  and  agents  of 
the  discontented  faction,   filled  the  country  with  rumours  of  impending 


12  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

annexation,  and  sometimes  of  impending  conquest.  The  Boers,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  country,  asked  day  after  day  what  was  the  mission  of  the 
English  Commissioner,  They  visited  him  in  hundreds  ;  but  he  knew  the 
wonderful  advantage  to  be  gathered  from  the  heightening  of  the  mystery, 
and  the  intensifying  of  the  excitement.  He  listened  to  everyone ;  but  he 
maintained  a  gloomy  and  impassive  silence,  neither  checking  the  aspirations 
of  the  annexationists,  nor  dissipating  the  forebodings  of  the  farmers. 

News  arrived  that  troops  were  marching  towards,  and  massing  on,  the 
border ;  rumours  spread  that  annexation  was  inevitable.  Sir  Theophilus 
sought  not  to  alleviate  the  anxieties  of  the  Government,  nor  to  quell  the  now 
rising  alarm  amongst  the  people  ;  he  simply  sat  still  and  listened,  watching 
the  writhings  and  stragglings  of  the  doomed  Volksraad,  and  awaiting  a 
favourable  moment  to  end  its  existence. 

At  length  someone  determined  to  ask  :  '  Was  it  not  possible  to  avert  this 
annexation  which  loomed  before  every  mind,  brooding  like  a  shadow  upon 
the  country  ?'  He  went  to  Sir  Theophilus  ;  he  asked  his  question  ;  and  at 
length  the  oracle  spoke.  Without  moving  a  muscle  of  his  wonderfully 
impassive  countenance,  without  even  raising  his  eyes  to  look  at  the  inter- 
locutor, Sir  Theophilus  calmly  murmured  :  '  It  is  too  late  ! — too  late  !'  And 
so,  without  the  authorization  of  the  home  Government,  without  the  consent 
of  her  Majesty's  High  Commissioner,  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
Volksraad,  against  the  will  of  thirty-nine-fortieths  of  the  people,  and  in 
defiance  of  the  protest  of  their  Executive,  as  Mr.  Anthony  TroUope  puts  it. 
Sir  Theophilus  said  :  *  Then  and  from  thenceforth  the  Transvaal  shall  be 
British  property  !'     So  he  put  up  the  Queen's  flag. 

Now,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  anything  more  admirable  for  its  discretion, 
more  wisely  calculated  as  to  the  moment  of  its  occurrence,  or  more  suavely 
and  yet  firmly  done  than  this  act.  There  was  not  a  blow  struck,  not  a  shot 
fired  ;  and  the  first  impulse  of  nearly  every  person  in  the  country,  whether 
in  principle  opposed  to  annexation  or  not,  was  to  congratulate  Sir  Theophilus 
Shepstone  on  the  skill,  tact,  and  good  fortune  with  which  he  had  put  an  end 
to  the  excessive  anxiety,  the  mental  strain,  the  fears,  hopes,  and  expectations 
by  which  the  whole  country  was  i:)aralyzed.  Whether  the  annexation  be  now 
held  to  be  right  or  wrong,  its  execution,  so  far  as  regards  the  act  itself,  was 
an  uj^.paralleled  triumph  of  tact,  modesty,  and  firmness. 

It  was  not  discovered  at  the  moment,  and  it  never  entered  into  any  man's 
mind  to  consider,  that  it  was  the  presence  in  Pretoria  of  Sir  Theophilus 
himself  that  had  created  the  anxiety,  and  caused  the  paralysis  ;  and  that  it 
was  his  arts  and  presence  that  had  tightened  and  strung  up  into  quivering 
intensity  the  mind  of  the  country.  He  had  broken  the  spell ;  he  had  intro- 
duced certainty  in  place  of  uncertainty  ;  and  he  was  congratulated,  and  very 
properly  so,  for  the  manner  in  which  he  had  brought  to  a  conclusion  his 
hazardous  mission. 

Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone's  despatches  record  his  negotiations  with 
President  Burgers,  and  the  arrangement  which  allowed  him  to  make 
a  formal  protest  against  the  annexation,  so  as  to  satisfy  his  Irrecon- 
cilables,  whilst  he  in  reality  not  only  assented  to  ths  measure,  but  even 
assisted  the  completion  of  it,  and  discussed  the  details  with  Shepstone, 
who  in  turn  had  revised  President  Burgers'  '  protest.' 

On  April  3,  1877,  Shepstone  had  written  to  Frere : 

Mr.  Burgers,  who  had  been  all  along,  as  far  as  his  conversation  and  pro- 
fessions to  me  went,  in  full  accord  with  me,  had  suddenly  taken  alarm ;  he 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  18 

made  impossible  proposals,  all  of  which  involved  infinite  delay,  and,  of 
course,  dangerous  agitation.  As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  retreat  now,  come  what  may.  If  I  were  to  leave  the  country,  civil  war 
would  at  once  take  place,  as  the  natives  would  consider  it  the  sunshine  in 
which  they  could  make  hay  in  the  Transvaal ;  tlie  goldfields  are  in  a  state  of 
rebellion  against  the  Ti-ansvaal  Government,  and  they  are  kept  from  overt 
acts  only  by  my  warnings  and  entreaties. 

And  eight  days  later  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Herbert  enclosing  his  letter 
under  '  flying  seal '  to  Frere : 

There  will  be  a  protest  against  my  act  of  annexation  issued  by  the  Govern- 
ment, but  they  will  at  the  same  time  call  upon  the  people  to  submit  quietly, 
pending  the  issue  ;  you  need  not  be  disquieted  by  such  action,  because  it  is 
taken  merely  to  save  appearances,  and  the  members  of  the  Government  from 
the  violence  of  a  faction  that  seems  for  years  to  have  held  Pretoria  in  terror 
when  any  act  of  the  Government  displeased  it. 

You  will  better  understand  this  when  I  tell  you  privately  that  the  President 
has  from  the  first  fully  acquiesced  in  the  necessity  for  the  change,  and  that 
most  of  the  members  of  the  Government  have  expressed  themselves  anxious 
for  it ;  but  none  of  them  have  had  the  courage  openly  to  express  their 
opinions,  so  I  have  had  to  act  apparently  against  them  ;  and  this  I  have  felt 
bound  to  do,  knowing  the  state  and  danger  of  the  country,  and  that  tln-ee- 
fourths  of  the  people  will  be  thankful  for  the  change  when  once  it  is  made. 

Yesterday  morning  Mr.  Burgers  came  to  me  to  arrange  liow  the  matter 
should  be  done.  I  read  to  him  the  draft  of  my  Proclamation,  and  he  pro- 
posed the  alteration  of  two  words  only,  to  which  I  agreed.  He  brought  to 
me  a  number  of  conditions  which  he  wished  me  to  insert,  which  I  have 
accepted  and  have  embodied  in  my  Proclamation.  He  told  me  that  he  could 
not  help  issuing  a  protest  to  keep  the  noisy  portion  of  the  people  quiet — and 
you  will  see  grounds  for  this  precaution  when  I  tell  you  that  there  are  only 
half  a  dozen  native  constables  to  represent  the  power  of  the  State  in  Pretoria, 
and  a  considerable  number  of  the  Boers  in  the  neighbourhood  are  of  the 
lowest  and  most  ignorant  class.  Mr.  Burgers  read  me,  too,  the  draft  of  his 
protest,  and  asked  me  if  I  saw  any  objection  to  it,  or  thought  it  too  strong, 
i  said  that  it  appeared  to  me  to  pledge  the  people  to  resist  by-and-by,  to 
which  he  replied  that  it  was  to  tide  over  the  difficulty  of  the  moment, 
.seeing  that  my  support,  the  troops,  were  a  fortnight's  march  distant,  and 
that  by  the  time  the  answer  to  the  protest  came  all  desire  of  opposition  would 
have  died  out.     I  therefore  did  not  persuade  him  from  his  protest. 

You  will  see,  when  the  Proclamation  reaches  you,  that  I  have  taken  high 
ground.  Nothing  but  annexation  will  or  can  save  the  State,  and  nothing 
else  can  save  South  Africa  from  the  direst  consequences.  All  the  thinking 
and  intelligent  people  know  this,  and  will  be  thankful  to  be  delivered  from 
the  thraldom  of  petty  factions,  by  which  they  are  perpetually  kept  in  a  state 
of  excitement  and  unrest,  because  the  Government  and  everything  connected 
with  it  is  a  thorough  sham. 

This  arrangement  with  President  Burgers  was  a  most  improper 
compromise  on  both  sides.  Moreover,  Shepstone  received  the  protests 
of  the  Executive  Council  and  of  the  Volksraad  before  he  issued  his 
proclamation.  He  had  plenty  of  evidence  to  show  that  even  if  his 
action  was  approved  by  the  majority,  the  Boers  were  sufficiently 
divided  to  demand  some  delay.     He  knew  that  the  members  of  the 


14  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Government  and  of  the  Raad  would  not  face  the  responsibility  of 
relinquishing  the  State's  independence,  although  he  received  private 
assurances  and  entreaties  encouraging  him  to  act.  He  had  representa- 
tions and  deputations  from  the  Boers  themselves,  sufficient  in  weight 
and  number  to  warrant  his  belief  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  people 
desired  annexation.  He  should  not  have  allowed  the  '  hedging  '  that 
was  practised  at  his  expense.  The  Boer  leaders  were  '  between  the 
devil  and  the  deep  sea.'  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  they 
dearly  loved  and  prized  their  independence,  and  would  have  fought 
even  then  for  it  had  they  been  in  a  position  to  preserve  and  profit  by 
it ;  but  they  were  not.  They  dared  neither  ask  for  relief  at  the  price 
of  annexation,  nor  reject  the  proffered  relief  at  the  price  of  continuing 
the  hopeless  struggle.  So  they  compromised.  They  took  the  relief, 
they  accepted  pay  of  the  new  Government,  and  entered  a  protest,  so  as 
to  put  themselves  right  with  the  records  and  stand  well  with  the  un- 
tamed ones  of  the  party. 

The  Act  of  Annexation  is  so  generally  condemned  by  the  friends 
and  sympathizers  of  the  Boers,  and  is  so  persistently  quoted  by  them 
as  the  cause  of  the  Boer  War,  that  it  is  only  right  to  show  clearly 
what  the  opinion  was  at  that  time ;  and  if  it  be  deemed  that  overmuch 
space  is  given  to  this  matter,  the  answer  is,  that  it  is  quoted  now  as 
the  crime  which  gave  rise  to  the  present  hatred  and  mistrust  of 
England,  and  it  is  all-important  that  the  truth  should  be  clear. 

This  is  what  Mr.  J.  F.  Celliers,  the  patriotic  editor  of  the  Boer 
newspaper  De  VolJcsstem,  wrote  in  reviewing  the  work  of  the  special 
session  of  the  Volksraad,  convened  to  deal  with  the  questions  of  Lord 
Carnarvon's  Federation  Bill,  and  the  rescuing  of  the  country  from 
ruin  and  chaos  :  '  During  the  session  we  have  repeatedly  had  occasion 
to  comment  on  the  doings  of  the  Eaad.  These  comments  have  not 
been  favourable,  and  we  regret  to  say  that  we  have  found  in  the 
closing  scenes  of  our  Legislature  no  reason  to  alter  our  opinions.' 
Then  follows  a  scathing  account  of  the  '  work  done,'  in  which  occur 
such  references  as :  '  With  the  exception  of  a  couple  of  members,  no 
one  had  the  sense  or  manliness  to  go  into  the  question  of  confederation '; 
and  '  The  most  surprising  featm'e  of  the  whole  affair  was  this — that 
most  of  the  speakers  seemed  not  to  have  the  faintest  conception  of  the 
desperate  condition  in  which  the  country  stood.  .  .  .'  And  again, 
under  date  of  March  28  :  '  About  three  months  ago  we  said  we  would 
prefer  confederation  under  the  British  flag  if  the  state  of  anarchy  then 
threatening  were  to  continue.  We  know  that  a  good  and  stable 
Government  is  better  than  anarchy  any  day.' 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  writer  of  the  above  is  the  same  Mr.  CeUiers 
who,  two  years  later,  was  put  in  gaol  by  Colonel  Lanyon  on  a  charge 
of  sedition,  because  he  attacked  the  Administration  for  its  failure  to 
keep  the  promises  made  at  the  time  of  annexation. 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  15 

Three  thousand  out  of  eight  thousand  voters  actually  signed  petitions 
in  favour  of  annexation.  In  the  Raad,  President  Burgers  openly 
reproached  members  for  proclaiming  in  public,  and  for  improper 
reasons,  views  diametrically  opposed  to  those  privately  expressed  on 
the  confederation  and  annexation  questions ;  and  refused  to  consult 
with  three  out  of  four  members  appointed  as  a  deputation  to  confer 
with  him  on  these  subjects,  because  they  had  not  paid  their  taxes,  and 
had  so  helped  by  example,  not  less  than  by  the  actual  offence,  to  cause 
the  ruin  of  the  country  and  the  loss  of  independence.  And  on  March  3 
President  Burgers  read  an  address  to  the  Raad,  in  which  the  following 
words  occur  : 

*  I  Avould  rather  be  a  policeman  under  a  strong  Government  than  the  Pre- 
sident of  sueli  a  State.  It  is  you — you  members  of  the  Raad  and  the  Boers — 
who  have  lost  the  country,  who  have  sold  your  independence  for  a  soupe  (a 
drink).  You  have  ill-treated  tlio  natives,  you  have  shot  thera  down,  you 
have  sold  them  into  slavery,  and  now  you  have  to  pay  the  penalty.' 

•5fr  ***■}«■  * 

*  We  should  delude  ourselves  by  entertaining  the  hope  that  matters  would 
mend  by-and-by.  It  would  only  be  self-conceit.  I  tell  you  openly,  matters 
are  as  bad  as  they  ever  can  be  ;  they  cannot  be  worse.  These  are  bitter 
truths,  and  people  may  perhaps  turn  their  backs  on  me  ;  but  then  I  shall 
have  the  consolation  of  having  done  my  duty.' 

*  *  *  *  ^  * 

'  It  is  said  here  this  or  that  man  must  be  released  from  taxes  because  the 
Kaffirs  have  driven  them  off  their  farms,  and  occupy  the  latter.  By  this  you 
proclaim  to  the  world  that  the  strongest  man  is  master  here,  that  the  right  of 
the  strongest  obtains  here.'  [Mr.  Mare  :  '  This  is  not  true.'l  *  Then  it  is  not 
true  what  the  honourable  member,  Mr.  Breytenbach,  has  told  us  about  the 
state  of  the  Lydenburg  district ;  then  it  is  not  true  either  what  another 
member  has  said  about  the  farms  in  Zoutpansberg,  which  are  occupied  by 
Kaffirs.  Neither  is  it  true,  then,  what  I  saAV  with  my  own  eyes  at  Lyden- 
burg, where  the  burghers  had  been  driven  off  their  farms  by  the  Kaffirs,  and 
where  Johannes  was  ploughing  and  sowing  on  the  land  of  a  burgher.  These 
are  facts,  and  they  show  that  tlie  strongest  man  is  the  master  here.  The 
fourth  point  which  we  have  to  take  into  account  affects  our  relations  with  our 
English  neighbours.  It  is  asked,  What  have  they  got  to  do  with  our 
position  ?  I  toll  you,  as  much  as  we  have  to  do  with  that  of  our  Kaffir  neigh- 
bours. As  little  as  we  can  allow  barbarities  among  the  Kaffirs  on  our  borders, 
as  little  can  tliey  allow  that  in  a  State  on  their  borders  anarchy  and  rebellion 
should  prevail' 

*  *  *  *  *  -H- 

*  Do  you  know  what  has  recently  happened  in  Turkey  ?  Because  no 
civilized  government  was  carried  on  there  the  Great  Powers  interfered  and 
said,  "Thus  far,  and  no  further."  And  if  this  is  done  to  an  empire,  will  a 
little  republic  be  excused  when  it  misbehaves  V 

****** 
'  Complain  to  other  Powers,  and  seek  justice  there  ?    Yes,  thank  God  ! 
justice  is  still  to  be  found,  even  for  the  most  insignificant ;  but  it  is  precisely 
the  justice  which  will  convict  us.    If  we  want  justice,  we  must  be  in  a  position 
to  ask  it  with  unsullied  hands. ' 


16  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

'  Whence  has  arisen  that  urgency  to  make  an  appeal  for  interference  else- 
where ?  Has  that  appeal  been  made  only  by  enemies  of  the  State  ?  Oh  no, 
gentlemen  ;  it  has  arisen  from  real  grievances.  Our  people  have  degenerated 
from  their  former  position  ;  they  have  become  demoralized  ;  they  are  not 
what  they  ought  to  be.' 

*  *  -x-  -jf-  -x-  •» 

'  To  day  a  bill  for  £1,100  was  laid  before  me  for  signature  ;  but  I  would 
sooner  have  cut  off  my  right  hand  than  sign  that  paper,  for  I  have  not  the 
slightest  ground  to  expect  that  when  that  bill  becomes  due  there  will  be  a 
penny  to  pay  it  with. ' 

The  President  added,  and  his  statements  remained  uncontradicted : 

The  principal  thing  which  had  brought  them  to  their  present  position  was 
that  to  which  they  would  not  give  attention.  It  was  not  this  or  that  thing 
which  impeded  their  way,  but  they  themselves  stopped  the  way  ;  and  if  they 
asked  him  what  prevented  the  people  from  remaining  independent,  he 
answered  that  the  Republic  was  itself  the  obstruction,  owing  to  the  inherent 
incapacity  and  weakness  of  the  people.  But  whence  this  weakness  ?  Was  it 
because  they  were  deformed  ?  because  they  were  worse  than  other  people  ? 
because  they  were  too  few  and  too  insignificant  to  occupy  the  country  ? 
Those  arguments  did  not  weigh  with  him.  They  were  not  trae  ;  he  did  not 
consider  them  of  any  importance.  The  people  w^ere  as  good  as  any  other 
people,  but  they  were  completely  demoralized  ;  they  had  lost  faith  in  God, 
reliance  upon  themselves,  or  trust  in  each  other.  Hence  he  believed  they 
were  inherently  weak. 

**«•«■  -x-  -x- 

He  did  not  believe  that  a  new  constitution  would  save  them  ;  for  as  little 
as  the  old  constitution  had  brought  them  to  riiin,  so  little  would  a  new  con- 
stitution bring  them  salvation. 

4«-  -x-  *  *•  *  * 

The  Great  Powers,  with  all  their  greatness,  all  their  thousands  of  soldiers, 
would  fall  as  quickly  as  this  State  had  fallen,  and  even  more  quickly,  if 
their  citizens  were  to  do  what  the  citizens  of  this  State  had  done  ;  if  the 
citizens  of  England  had  behaved  towards  the  Crown  as  the  burghers  of  this 
State  had  behaved  to  their  Government,  England  would  never  have  stood  as 
long  as  she  had,  not  even'ias  long  as  this  State  had  stood.  This  State  owed 
obligations  to  other  countries  ;  they  knew  that  the  fire  which  had  nearly 
consumed  this  State  would,  if  felt  by  them,  very  soon  consume  them  also. 
¥r  ^  *  *  *  * 

In  several  of  the  cities  of  Holland  there  were  people  who  had  subscribed 
for  only  one  debenture,  because  they  thought  men  of  their  own  blood  were 
living  in  South  Africa.  What  was  the  consequence  ?  The  interest  up  to  July 
last  had  been  paid  ;  in  January  of  this  year  £2,250  was  due  for  interest,  and 
there  was  not  a  penny  to  meet  it. 

*  *  *  -it  *  * 

To  take  up  arms  and  fight  was  nonsense  ;  to  draw  the  sword  would  be  to 
draw  the  sword  against  God,  for  it  was  God's  judgment  that  the  State  was  in 
tlie  condition  it  was  to-day  ;  and  it  was  their  duty  to  inquire  whether  they 
should  immerse  in  blood  the  thousands  of  innocent  inhabitants  of  this 
country  ;  and  if  so,  what  for  ?  For  an  idea— for  something  they  had  in 
their  heads,  but  not  in  their  hearts  ;  for  an  independence  which  Avas  not 
prized.     Let  them  make  the  best  of  the  situation,  and  get  the  best  terms 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  17 

they  possibly  could  ;  let  them  agree  to  join  their  hands  to  those  of  their 
brethren  in  the  south,  and  then  from  the  Cape  to  the  Zambesi  there  would 
be  one  gi-eat  people.  Yes,  there  was  something  grand  in  that — grander  even 
than  their  idea  of  a  Republic — something  which  ministered  to  their  national 
feeling.  And  would  this  be  so  miserable  ?  Yes  ;  this  would  be  miserable  for 
those  who  would  not  be  under  the  law,  for  the  rebel  and  revolutionist,  but 
welfare  and  prosperity  for  the  men  of  law  and  order, 

*  -St  -it  -x-  ^t  -x- 

They  must  not  underrate  their  real  and  many  difficulties.  He  could  point 
to  the  south-western  border,  the  Zulu,  the  goldlields,  and  other  questions, 
and  show  them  that  it  was  their  duty  to  come  to  an  arrangement  with  the 
British  Government,  and  to  do  so  in  a  bold  and  manly  manner.  An  hon. 
member  on  Saturday  last  had  spoken  with  a  fervent  patriotism  ;  but  he  had 
failed  to  appreciate  the  reference,  because  it  amounted  to  this — that  they 
must  shut  their  eyes  to  everything,  so  as  to  keep  their  independence. 

President  Burgers,  who  left  the  Transvaal  broken-hearted,  more  by 
the  cruel  and  mean  intriguing  and  dissensions  among,  and  disloyalty  of, 
his  own  people,  which  made  the  annexation  possible,  than  by  the  Act 
itself,  when  dying  left  a  statement  of  the  case.  It  is  too  long  to  re- 
produce in  its  entirety.  He  shows  how  the  English  faction  worked  for 
annexation,  and  how  the  Dopper  party,  headed  by  Kruger,  allied  them- 
selves with  the  former  in  intrigue  against  the  Government,  thwarting 
all  effort  at  reform  and  organization,  and  encouraging  the  refusal  to 
pay  taxes.  He  states  plainly  that  this  course  was  pursued  by  Kruger 
in  order  to  oust  him  from  power,  and  secure  the  Presidency  for  him- 
self. He  shows  how  he  opposed  '  that  other  element  which  had 
formerly  worked  in  secret,  viz.,  British  interference,  which  got  a 
strong  support  from  the  Boers  themselves,  and  one  of  their  chief 
leaders,  P.  Kruger,  who  had  betrayed  me,  after  promising  me  his 
and  his  party's  support.'     He  gives  the  final  scene  as  follows  : 

The  Yolksraad  had  gone  away,  having  done  nothing  but  harm.  The 
members  of  the  Executive  had  gone  home,  as  if  all  were  safe,  and  I  sat  with 
a  half-new  Cabinet  and  part  of  an  old  one,  half  discharged.  Yet  I  made  one 
attempt  more,  and  drafted  a  letter  to  Shepstone,  intimating  that  I  would 
oppose  the  annexation  by  force  of  arms,  etc.  ;  and  showed  this  to  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Executive.  The  response  to  my  appeal,  however,  was  so  weak 
(one  of  them  being  in  league  with  the  English)  that  I  had  to  abandon  the 
project,  and  try  to  prepare  for  the  worst.  When,  therefore,  Shepstone's 
announcement  came — that  he  could  wait  no  longer,  that  he  had  given  us 
time  enough  to  reform,  and  that  he  must  issue  his  proclamation — I  could  do 
no  more  than  advise  a  protest  and  an  appeal  to  foreign  powers.  This  having 
been  agreed  to  by  my  Government,  I  met  Shepstone  in  presence  of  the 
Executive,  and  Avhat  could  be  saved  for  the  country,  such  as  its  language, 
its  legislature,  the  position  of  its  officials,  etc.,  was  arranged.  Before  issuing 
his  proclamation,  Shepstone  desired  to  see  copies  of  both  mine  and  the 
Government  protest.  This  I  promised  on  condition  he  showed  me  his  pro- 
clamation before  publication,  to  which  he  agreed.  To  one  clause  I  greatly 
objected,  and  protested — namely,  the  threat  of  confiscation  of  property  for 
disobeying  the  proclamation.     I  jwinted  out  that  this  was  barbarous,  and 

2 


18  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

would  be  punishing  a  man's  innocent  family  for  his  actions.  The  clause  was 
omitted.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  lie  that  I  helped  Shepstonc  in  drawing  up 
his  proclamation.  In  justice  to  Shepstone,  I  must  say  that  I  would  not 
consider  an  officer  of  my  Government  to  have  acted  faithfully  if  he  had  not 
done  what  Shepstone  did  ;  and  if  the  act  was  wrong  (which  undoubtedly  it 
was),  not  he,  but  his  Government,  is  to  blame  for  it. 

Messrs.  Krager  and  Jorissen  left  within  a  month  to  protest  in 
England  against  the  annexation. 

Sir  T.  Shepstone  wrote  (May  9)  :  *  Mr.  Paul  Kruger  and  his  colleague, 
Dr.  Jorissen,  D.D.,  the  Commission  to  Europe,  leave  to-day.  I  do  not 
think  that  either  of  them  wishes  the  Act  of  Annexation  to  be  cancelled ; 
Dr.  Jorissen  certainly  does  not.'  And  Mr.  J.  D.  Barry,  Recorder  of 
Kimberley,  wrote  to  Frere  (May  15) :  *  The  delegates,  Paul  Kruger  and 
Dr.  Jorissen,  left  Pretoria  on  the  8th,  and  even  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  much  faith  in  their  mission.  Dr.  Jorissen  thinks  that  the  reversal 
of  Sir  Theophilus's  Act  would  not  only  be  impossible,  but  a  great  injury 
to  the  country.' 

It  is  not  necessary  to  seek  hostile  testimony  to  establish  the  fact 
that  the  Boers  as  a  whole  acquiesced  in  the  annexation ;  the  foregoing 
quotation  from  Ayl ward's  book  supplies  all  that  is  needed — unin- 
tentionally, perhaps.  The  Zulu  menace,  which  Aylward  so  lightly 
dismisses,  was  a  very  serious  matter  ;  the  danger  a  very  real  one.  It 
has  frequently  been  asserted  by  the  Boers  and  their  friends  that  the 
Zulu  trouble  was  fomented  hj  a  section  of  the  Natal  people,  and  that 
Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  himself,  if  he  did  not  openly  encourage  the 
Zulu  King  in  his  threats  and  encroachments  on  the  Transvaal,  at  any 
rate  refrained  from  using  his  unique  influence  and  power  with  the 
Zulus  in  the  direction  of  peace,  and  that  he  made  a  none  too  scrupulous 
use  of  the  Zulu  question  when  he  forced  the  annexation  of  the  Transvaal. 
It  is  stated  that,  in  the  first  place,  there  was  no  real  danger,  and  in  the 
next  place,  if  there  were,  such  was  Sir  Theophilus's  power  with  the 
Zulus  that  he  could  have  averted  it ;  and  in  support  of  the  first  point, 
and  in  demolition  of  Sir  T.  Shepstone's  pro-annexation  arguments,  the 
following  extract  from  the  latter's  despatches  is  quoted  by  Aylward  and 
others : 

Extract   from    Despatch,    dated    Utrecht,    Transvaal, 
January  29,  1878. 

Sir  T.  Shepstone  to  Sir  E.  Bulwer. 

Par.  12.  'Although  this  question  has  existed  for  many  years,  and  the 
settlement  of  it  has  been  long  postponed,  yet  on  no  former  occasion  has  it 
assumed  so  serious  an  aspect  or  included  so  wide  an  area  of  territory  ;  never 
before  has  there  existed  any  bar  to  the  farmers  occupying  their  farms  after 
an  absence  more  or  less  temporary,  caused  by  a  temporary  and  local  scare. 
Practically,  the  line  of  occupied  farms  has  not  been  heretofore  affected  by  the 
dispute  about  the  beaconed  boundary,  but  now  the  prohibition  to  these  has 
become  absolute  by  Zulu  claims  and  action.     Ruin  is  staring  the  fanners  in 


f^ 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  19 

the  face,  and  their  ijosition  is,  for  the  time,  worse  under  Her  Majesty's  Goveim- 
ment  than  ever  it  was  under  the  Republic' 

Had  Sir  T.  Shepstone's  power  been  as  great  as  represented,  it  is  fair 
to  suppose  that  it  would  have  been  exerted,  and  would  have  prevailed 
in  support  of.  his  own  administration ;  but  it  seems  clear  that  he  could 
do  nothiMg ;  and  as  to  the  reahty  of  the  danger,  nothing  could  better 
establish  that  than  the  unpleasant  admissions  in  the  foregoing  extract 
and  the  initial  disasters  in  the  Zulu  War  a  year  later.  The  Boers'  pro- 
tective power  was  not  lessened  by  the  annexation — quite  otherwise.  It 
was  supplemented  by  British  money,  arms,  and  soldiers,  and  the 
prestige  of  the  British  flag,  and  yet  things  happened  as  above  described. 
What  would  they  have  been  under  the  old  conditions  ? 

The  day  before  he  issued  the  proclamation,  Sir  T.  Shepstone  sent  a 
messenger  to  Cetewayo,  telling  him  that  the  Transvaal  would  be  under 
British  sovereignty,  and  warning  him  against  aggression  in  that  direc- 
tion. Cetewayo  replied  :  '  I  thank  my  father  Somtseu  (Shepstone)  for 
his  message.  I  am  glad  that  he  has  sent  it,  because  the  Dutch  have  tired 
me  out,  and  I  intended  to  fight  with  them  once,  only  once,  and  to  drive 
them  over  the  Vaal.  Kabana,  you  see  my  impis  are  gathered.  It  was 
to  fight  the  Dutch  I  called  them  together.  Now  I  will  send  them  back 
to  their  houses.'     (G.  1883,  p.  19.) 

Colonel  A.  W.  Durnford,  R.E.,  in  a  memorandum  of  July  5,  1877, 
wrote : 

About  this  time  (April  10)  Cetewayo  had  massed  his  forces  in  three  co^ps 
on  the  borders,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  swept  the  Transvaal,  at  least  up 
to  the  Vaal  River,  if  not  to  Pretoria  itself,  had  the  country  not  been  taken 
over  by  the  English.  In  my  opinion,  he  would  have  cleared  the  country  to 
Pretoria. 

'  I  am  convinced,'  wrote  Sir  A.  Cunynghame,  June  12,  from  Pretoria, 
'  that  had  this  country  not  been  annexed,  it  would  have  been  ravaged 
by  the  native  tribes.  Forty  square  miles  of  country  had  been  overrun 
by  natives,  and  every  house  burned,  just  before  the  annexation.'  And 
he  wrote  again,  July  6  :  *  Every  day  convinces  me  that  unless  this 
country  had  been  annexed  it  would  have  been  a  prey  to  plunder  und 
rapine  from  the  natives  on  its  border,  joined  by  Secocoeni,  Mapok,  and 
other  tribes  in  the  Transvaal.  FeeUng  the  influence  of  the  British 
Government,  they  are  now  tranquil.' 

So  much  for  the  reality  of  the  danger.  As  to  the  causes  of  it  and 
the  alleged  responsibility  of  Natal,  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  in  a  letter  to 
General  Ponsonby,  made  the  following  remarks : 

The  fact  is,  that  while  the  Boer  Republic  was  a  rival  and  semi-hostile 
power,  it  was  a  Natal  weakness  rather  to  pet  the  Zulus  as  one  might  a  tame 
wolf,  who  only  devoured  one's  neighbour's  sheep.  AVe  always  remonstrated, 
but  rather  feebly  ;  and  now  that  both  flocks  belong  to  us,  we  are  rather 
embarrassed  in  stopping  the  wolfs  ravages. 

2-2 


20  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Sir  B.  Frere  realized  fully  the  dangers,  and  gave  his  testimony  as  to 
Boer  opinion.  On  December  15,  1877,  he  wrote,  concerning  his  policy 
towards  the  Zulus : 

My  great  anxiety  is,  of  course,  to  avoid  collision,  and  I  am  satisfied  that 
the  only  chance  I  have  of  keeping  clear  of  it  is  to  show  that  I  do  not  fear  it, 
The  Boers  are,  of  course,  in  a  state  of  great  apprehension,  and  I  have  ordered 
those  of  the  two  frontier  districts  of  Utrecht  and  "Wakkerstrom  to  hold 
themselves  in  readiness,  should  I  find  it  necessary  to  call  upon  them  for 
active  service. 

Sir  T.  Shepstone  also  wrote  concerning  the  reality  of  the  danger 
imder  date  December  25  : 

The  Boers  are  still  flying,  and  I  think  by  this  time  there  must  be  a  belt 
of  more  than  a  hundred  miles  long  and  thirty  broad,  in  which,  with  three 
insignificant  exceptions,  there  is  nothing  but  absolute  desolation.  This  will 
give  your  Excellency  some  idea  of  the  mischief  which  Cetewayo's  conduct  has 
caused. 

And  again  (April  30,  1878)  : 

I  find  that  Secocoeni  acts  as  a  kind  of  lieutenant  to  Cetewayo.  He  receives 
directions  from  the  Zulu  King,  and  these  directions  are  by  Secocoeni  issued 
to  the  various  Basuto  tribes  in  the  Transvaal. 

Sir  T.  Shepstone  rushed  the  annexation.  He  plucked  the  fruit  that 
would  have  fallen.  He  himself  has  said  that  he  might  have  waited 
until  the  Zulus  actually  made  their  threatened  murderous  raid.  That 
might  have  been  Macchiavelian  statecraft,  but  it  would  not  have  been 
humanity ;  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  attitude  of  the  Boer  leaders 
at  the  time  of  the  annexation  which  foreshadowed  the  fierce  and 
determined  opposition  which  afterwards  developed.  The  fact  seems  to 
be  that  the  people  of  the  Transvaal  were  either  in  favour  of  annexa- 
tion, or  were  overpowered  and  dazed  by  the  hopelessness  of  the 
Eepublic's  outlook ;  and  they  passively  assented  to  the  action  of  Sir 
Theophilus  Shepstone  and  his  twenty-five  policemen.  The  Boers  were 
quite  unable  to  pay  the  taxes  necessary  to  self-government  and  the 
prosecution  of  the  Kaffir  wars.  The  Treasury  was  empty — save  for  the 
much-quoted  12s.  6d.  The  Government  ^61  bluebacks  were  selling 
at  Is.  Civil  servants'  salaries  were  months  in  arrear.  The  President 
himself — the  excitable,  unstable,  visionary,  but  truly  enlightened  and 
patriotic  Burgers — had  not  only  drawn  no  salary,  but  had  expended 
his  private  fortune,  and  incurred  a  very  heavy  liability,  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  unsuccessful  Secocoeni  war.  No  amount  of  ex  post  facto 
evidence  as  to  the  supposed  feelings  and  opinions  of  the  Boers  can  alter 
a  single  one  of  the  very  serious  facts  which,  taken  together,  seemed  to 
Sir  Theophilus  to  justify  the  annexation.  But  it  all  comes  down  to 
this  :  If  the  passive  acquiescence  in  the  annexation  coincided  strangely 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  21 

with  the  Eepublic's  failure  to  defeat  its  enemies  and  pay  its  debts,  it  is 
no  whit  less  odd  that  Lord  Carnarvon's  anxiety  for  the  Eepublic's 
safety  synchronized  with  his  attempt  to  confederate  South  Africa. 

The  real  mistakes  of  the  British  Government  began  after  the  annexa- 
tion. The  failure  to  fulfil  promises ;  the  deviation  from  old  ways  of 
government ;  the  appointment  of  unsuitable  officials,  who  did  not 
understand  the  people  or  their  language ;  the  neglect  to  convene  the 
Volksraad,  or  to  hold  fresh  elections,  as  definitely  promised ;  the 
establishment  of  personal  rule  by  mihtary  men,  who  treated  the  Boers 
with  harshness  and  contempt,  and  would  make  no  allowance  for  their 
simple,  old-fashioned  ways,  their  deep-seated  prejudices,  and,  if  you 
like,  their  stupid  opposition  to  modern  ideas  ;  these  things  and  others 
caused  great  dissatisfaction,  and  gave  ample  material  for  the  nucleus 
of  irreconcilables  to  work  with. 

During  the  occupation  period  Mr.  Kruger  took  office  under  the 
British  Government,  as  also  did  Dr.  Jorissen  and  Chief  Justice  (then 
Judge)  Kotz^,  and  indeed  all  the  officials  who  had  protested  against  the 
annexation,  except  Mr.  Piet  Joubert,  who  declined  to  do  so,  and  who, 
if  actions  be  the  test  and  not  words,  was  the  only  honest  protestant. 
Mr.  Kruger  retained  his  office  for  some  time  after  he  had  concerned 
himself  in  the  Eepeal  agitation,  but  finally  resigned  his  post  on  being 
refused  an  increased  remuneration,  for  which  he  had  repeatedly  applied. 
There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  had  this  inducement  been  forthcom- 
ing he  would  have  remained  a  loyal  British  subject. 

The  effect  of  the  annexation  was  to  start  the  wells  of  plenty  bubbling 
— with  British  gold.  The  country's  debts  were  paid.  Secocoeni  and 
Cetewayo  would  be  dealt  with,  and  the  responsibility  for  all  things  was 
on  other  and  broader  shoulders.  "With  the  revival  of  trade,  and  the 
removal  of  responsibilities  and  burdens,  came  time  to  think  and  to  talk. 
The  wave  of  the  magician's  wand  looked  so  very  simple  that  the  price 
began  to  seem  heavy.  The  eaten  bread  was  forgotten.  The  dangers 
and  difficulties  that  were  past  were  of  small  account  now  that  they 
were  past ;  and  so  the  men  who  had  remained  passive,  and  recorded 
formal  protests  when  they  should  have  resisted,  and  taken  steps  to 
show  that  they  were  in  earnest,  began  their  Eepeal  agitation.  All  the 
benefits  which  the  Boers  hoped  from  the  annexation  had  now  been 
reaped.  Their  pressing  needs  were  relieved.  Their  debts  had  been 
paid  ;  their  trade  and  credit  restored ;  their  enemies  were  being  dealt 
with.  Eepeal  would  rob  them  of  none  of  these  ;  they  would,  in  fact, 
eat  their  cake  and  still  have  it.  The  Zulu  question  had  been  taken  up, 
and  could  not  now  be  left  by  the  Imperial  Government  to  settle  itself. 
The  debts  discharged  for  them  and  the  outlays  incurred  might,  it  is 
true,  be  charged  to  them.  They  could  not  be  repaid,  of  course,  for  the 
same  reason  that  you  cannot  get  blood  from  stone ;  and  the  amount 
would,  therefore,  be  a  National  Debt,  which  was  exactly  what  they 


22  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

had  been  trying  for  years  to  incur,  and  the  condition  of  their  credit 
had  made  it  impossible  to  do. 

The  causes  of  discontent  before  given  were  serious,  but  the  failure  to 
fulfil  promises  was  not  deliberate.  Circumstances  combined  to  prevent 
Sir  Bartle  Frere  from  visiting  the  Transvaal,  as  intended  and  promised. 
Native  wars  (Gaika  and  Galeka),  disagreements  between  the  Colonial 
and  Imperial  authorities,  the  obstructions  and  eventual  dismissal  of  the 
Molteno-Merriman  Ministry — the  first  under  Eesponsible  Government 
— Natal  and  Diamond-fields  affairs,  and,  above  all,  the  Zulu  War,  all 
combined  to  prevent  Sir  Bartle  Frere  from  fulfilling  his  obligations  to 
settle  Transvaal  matters. 

In  the  meantime  two  deputations  had  been  sent  to  England,  repre- 
senting the  Boers'  case  against  annexation.  The  active  party  among 
the  Boers,  i.e.,  the  Voortrekker  party,  the  most  anti-British  and  Repub- 
lican, though  small  in  itself,  had  now  succeeded  in  completely  dominat- 
ing the  rest  of  the  Boers,  and  galvanizing  them  into  something  like 
national  life  and  cohesion  again — a  result  achieved  partly  by  earnest 
persuasion,  but  largely  also  by  a  kind  of  terrorism. 

Sir  Bartle  Frere,  who  managed  at  last  to  visit  the  Transvaal,  in 
April,  1879,  had  evidence  of  this  on  his  journey  up,  and  in  a  despatch 
to  Sir  M.  Hicks  Beach  from  Standerton  on  the  6th  of  that  month  he 
wrote : 

I  was  particularly  impressed  by  the  replies  of  a  very  fine  specimen  of  a  Boer 
of  the  old  school.  He  has  been  six  weeks  in  an  English  prison,  daily  expect- 
ing execution  as  a  rebel,  and  had  been  wounded  by  all  the  enemies  against 
whom  his  countrymen  had  fought — English,  Zulus,  Basutos,  Griquas,  and 
Bushmen. 

'  But,'  he  said,  '  that  was  in  the  days  of  my  youth  and  inexperience.  Had 
I  known  then  what  I  know  now,  I  would  never  have  fought  against  the 
English,  and  I  will  never  fight  them  again.  Old  as  I  am,  I  would  now  gladly 
turn  out  against  the  Zulus,  and  take  fifty  friends  of  my  own,  who  would 
follow  me  anywhere  ;  but  I  dare  not  leave  my  home  till  assured  it  will  not  be 
destroyed  and  my  property  carried  off  in  my  absence  by  the  men  who  call  me 
"rebel"  because  I  will  not  join  them  against  the  Government.  My  wife, 
brought  up  like  a  civilized  woman  in  the  Cape  Colony,  has  had  five  times  in 
her  life  to  run  from  the  house  and  sleep  in  the  veld  Avhen  attacked  by  Zulus 
and  Basutos.  One  of  our  twelve  sons  was  assegaied  in  sight  of  our  house 
within  the  last  ten  years  by  a  marauding  party  ;  and  in  my  absence  from 
the  house,  when  it  was  surrounded  by  Basutos,  my  wife  had  to  fly  in  the 
night  by  herself,  leading  one  child  and  carrying  another  on  her  back.  She 
walked  nearly  fifty  miles  through  the  Lion's  Veld,  seeing  three  lions  on  the 
way,  before  she  reached  a  place  of  safety.  It  is  not  likely  that  we  should 
forget  such  things,  nor  wish  them  to  recur  ;  but  how  can  I  leave  her  on  my 
farm  and  go  to  Zululand  when  the  malcontent  leaders  threaten  me  that  if  I 
go  they  will  burn  my  house  and  drive  off  all  my  stock  ?  Assure  me  that  we 
are  not  to  be  deserted  by  the  English  Government  and  left  to  the  mercy  of 
these  malcontent  adventurers,  and  I  and  my  people  will  gladly  turn  out  to 
assist  Colonel  Wood.' 

I  find  that  this  idea  that  the  English  Government  vnll  give  up  the  Transvaal, 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  23 

as  it  formerly  did  the  Orange  Free  State ^  has  heen  mdustriously  propagated, 
and  has  taken  a  great  hold  on  tJie  minds  of  the  well-disposed  Boers,  and  is,  I 
believe,  one  main  cause  of  reluctance  to  support  the  Government  actively. 

They  argue  that  what  has  heen  done  before  may  be  done  again,  and  they  have 
no  feeling  of  assurance  thai  if  they  stand  by  the  English  Government  to-day 
they  will  not  be  left  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  malcontents^  vengeance  when  a 
Republic  is  established. 

And  again  on  the  9th,  from  Heidelberg  : 

I'he  idea  that  we  should  somehow  be  compelled  or  induced  to  abandon  the 
cauntinj  had  taken  great  hold  on  the  minds  of  some  of  the  more  intelligent  men 
that  I  met.  It  has  been  sedulously  written  up  by  a  portion  of  the  South 
African  press,  English  as  well  as  Dutch.  I  marked  its  effect  particularly  on 
men  who  said  they  had  come  from  the  old  colony  since  the  annexation,  but 
would  never  have  done  so  had  they  believed  that  English  rule  would  be  with- 
drawn and  the  coimtry  left  to  its  former  state  of  anarchy.  .  .  . 

But  tliere  is  great  practical  difficulty  in  conveying  to  the  mass  of  the  people 
any  idea  of  the  real  power  of  Government. 

It  is  not  possible  to  pen  a  more  severe  and  pregnant  comment  on  the 
after-policy  of  England  than  that  suggested  by  the  italicized  lines, 
written  as  they  M^ere  by  England's  Plenipotentiary — an  idea  reported  to 
headquarters,  not  as  a  feeler,  but  as  a  suggestion  so  absurd  that  it  called 
for  no  expression  of  opinion.  But  he  lived  to  find  that  it  was  not  too 
absurd  to  be  realized  ;  and  perhaps,  after  all,  it  was  written  as  a  warn- 
ing, and  the  wise  and  cool-headed  old  statesman  in  his  inmost  soul  had 
a  premonition  of  what  eventually  occurred. 

Sir  Bartle  Frere  met  the  Boers  in  their  camp,  and  discussed  with 
them  their  grievances.  He  informed  them  that  he  had  no  power  to 
revoke  the  annexation,  nor  would  he  recommend  it,  as,  in  his  judgment, 
such  a  course  would  be  a  reversion  to  chaos  and  ruin.  The  Boers 
pressed  steadUy  for  nothing  less  than  repeah  Sir  Bartle  Frere  re- 
ported the  historical  meetmg  at  Erasmus  Farm  to  Sir  M.  Hicks  Beach : 

Ap7^il  14,  1879. 

They  were  evidently  much  disappointed.  .  .  .  Our  meeting  separated  with 
no  more  definite  decision  than  that  they  must  report  to  the  '  people, '  and  be 
guided  by  their  decision  as  to  what  was  to  be  done. 

If  I  may  judge  from  the  gentlemen  composing  the  deputation,  and  others 
of  their  class,  whom  I  have  had  the  honour  of  meeting  since  coming  to  the 
Transvaal,  the  leaders  are,  with  few  exceptions,  men  who  deserve  respect  and 
regard  for  many  valuable  and  amiable  qualities  as  citizens  and  subjects.  .  .  . 

Of  the  results  of  our  meeting  it  is  impossible  at  present  to  say  more  than 
that  it  must  have  cleared  away  misconception  on  all  sides.  If  they  have 
learnt  anything  as  to  the  finality  of  the  act  of  annexation — that  I  have  no 
power  to  imdo  it,  and  do  not  believe  that  it  will  ever  be  undone,  in  the  only 
sense  in  which  they  will  ask  it — I  have,  on  the  other  hand,  been  shown  the 
stubbornness  of  a  determination  to  be  content  with  nothing  else,  for  which  I 
was  not  prepared  by  the  general  testimony  of  ofiicials  who  had  been  longer  in 
the  country,  and  who  professed  to  believe  that  the  opposition  of  the  Boers 
was  mere  bluster,  and  that  they  had  not  the  coui-age  of  their  professed 


24  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

opinions.  ...  I  feel  assured  that  the  majority  of  the  Committee  felt  very 
deeply  what  they  believed  to  be  a  great  national  wrong.  .  .  .  But  my  con- 
viction is  that  the  real  malcontents  are  far  from  being  a  majority  of  the  whole 
white  population,  or  even  of  their  own  class  of  Boer  farmers. 

I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  if  the  Executive  were  in  a  position  to  assert 
the  supremacy  of  the  law,  to  put  an  effectual  stop  to  the  reign  of  terrorism 
which  exists  at  present,  the  discontented  minority  would  cease  to  agitate,  and 
would  soon  cease  to  feel  grievances  which  a  very  brief  discussion  shows  to  be 
in  the  main  sentimental ;  not  the  less  keenly  felt  on  that  account,  but  not 
likely  to  survive  the  prosperity  and  good  government,  with  a  fair  measure  of 
self-government  in  its  train,  wliich  are  within  their  reach  under  British  rule. 

And,  again,  he  wrote  to  Lady  Frere  : 

Pretoria,  April  20,  1879. 

My  last  letter  had  not  been  gone  many  hours  by  the  mail  express  when 
Lanyon  ran  into  my  room  to  tell  me  that  the  Boer  camp  was  actually  broken 
up  and  the  Boers  dispersing. 

I  need  not  tell  you  how  thankful  I  was.  The  one  thing  I  dreaded  waa 
civil  war  and  bloodshed,  and  had  a  single  malcontent  been  shot  I  should  have 
considered  it  a  greater  misfortune  than  the  death  of  a  dozen  Piet  Retiefs  or 
Uys,  dying  like  heroes  in  the  field  of  battle  for  their  country  and  brethren. 
So  you  may  imagine  how  thankful  I  felt  to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  who  has 
guided  and  protected  us  through  life. 

I  am  to  see  a  deputation  from  the  Boers'  Committee  again  to-morrow,  and 
then  I  hope  we  shall  have  done  with  meetings  and  grievances — for  the  present 
a  phrase  which  they  carefully  put  into  all  references  to  their  breaking  up,  and 
which  tliey  evidently  mean.  It  was  clear  to  one  that  it  was  not  the  annexation 
so  much  as  the  neglect  to  fulfil  the  promises  and  the  expectations  held  out  by 
Shepstone  wlien  he  took  over  the  Government  that  has  stirred  up  the  great  mass 
of  the  Boers,  and  given  a  handle  to  agitators.^ 

There  it  is  jn  a  single  sentence  1  It  was  not  the  annexation  which 
caused  the  war ;  for  nine  men  in  every  ten  admitted  that  it  was 
welcomed  and  justified  by  considerations  of  general  South  African 
policy,  or  else  simply  inevitable.  No  I  It  was  the  failure  to  fulfil  the 
conditions  of  annexation ! 

In  *  A  Narrative  of  the  Boer  War,'  Mr.  Thomas  Fortescue  Carter 
has  given  with  admirable  skill  and  impartiality  a  full  account  of  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  outbreak.  His  history  is,  indeed,  so  deter- 
minedly just  as  to  have  met  with  considerable  disapproval  in  quarters 
where  feelings  are  hot  on  either  side,  and  where  plain  truths  are  not 
palatable.  Mr.  Carter  resided  in  the  country  for  years  before  the 
annexation,  and  went  through  the  war  as  correspondent  of  a  well- 
known  London  daily,  and  this  is  his  opinion : 

Anyone  who  knows  the  acquaintance  Sir  T.  Shepstone  had  with  the  Boers 
of  the  Transvaal,  years  prior  to  the  annexation,  cannot  doubt  that,  regarded 


^  Several  of  the  letters  and  despatches  given  in  this  volume  are  quoted  from 
Mr.  Martineau's  excellent  '  Life  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere, '  a  portion  of  which  book 
was  lately  published  in  cheaper  form,  under  the  title  of  'The  Transvaal 
Trouble  and  How  it  Arose. ' 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  25 

as  a  friend  and  almost  as  one  of  themselves,  no  one  better  than  he  could  have 
been  selected  for  the  task  of  ascertaining  the  desires  of  the  people  ;  and  no 
one  who  knows  Sir  T.  Shepstone  will  believe  that  he  did  not  take  sufficient 
evidence  to  prove  to  any  man  that  the  Boers  were  anxious  to  be  extricated 
from  the  dilemma  they  were  in,  and  really  willing  at  that  time  that  their 
country  should  be  annexed.  Men  who  during  the  late  war  were  our  foes  were 
at  the  time  of  the  annexation  clamouring  for  it,  welcoming  Sir  Theophilus 
Shepstone  as  the  deliverer  and  saviour  of  the  country.  I  mention  Swart  Pirk 
Uys,  an  eminent  Boer,  who  fought  against  the  English  in  1880-81,  as  one 
amongst  the  hundreds  and  thousands  who  went  out  to  meet  Sir  Theophilus 
Shepstone  with  palm-branches  in  their  hands. 

The  natural  aversion  of  the  people  to  English  rule  was  overcome  for  the 
moment  by  their  greater  aversion  to  being  wiped  off  the  face  of  the  Transvaal 
by  the  blacks  ;  that  was  a  contingency  staring  them  in  the  face,  and  yet  not 
even  that  imminent  common  danger  availed  to  secure  unity  amongst  them,  or 
would  rouse  men  individually  to  take  upon  their  shoulders  the  responsibility 
which  rests  upon  every  member  of  a  State. 

The  Boer  Volksraad,  after  promising  to  appeal  to  their  constituents  on  the 
subject  of  the  new  constitution  proposed,  almost  immediately  passed  a 
measure,  which  was  familiarly  styled  by  the  people  the  '  Hon  jou  smoel  law.' 
The  literal  translation  of  this  term  is  '  Hold  your  jaw. '  In  brief,  it  was  an 
Act  which  made  it  high  treason  for  any  man  to  discuss  the  question  of  either 
confederation  or  annexation. 

I  come  to  the  conclusion,  then,  that  the  cause  of  the  annexation  was  Eng- 
land's historical  greed  of  territory,  especially  rich  territory  ;  and  that,  how- 
ever unworthy  the  motive  on  the  part  of  the  visiting  power,  the  Boers  did  not 
at  that  time  receive  the  visitor  with  other  feelings  than  those  of  satisfaction, 
and  practically  surrendered  their  country  voluntarily  and  gladly  to  the  rule 
of  a  greater  power,  under  the  impression  that  Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  would 
be  permitted  to  carry  out,  and  that  he  would  therefore  carry  out,  the  promises 
he  made  them.  As  the  programme  was  open  before  them  they  had  everything 
to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose,  except  the  loss  entailed  by  nominal  government 
by  the  British.  No  man,  whether  Boer  or  Britisher,  who  was  living  in  the 
Transvaal,  or  knew  the  feelings  of  the  Boers  at  the  time  of  annexation,  would 
in  1877  have  given  any  other  account  of  the  feeling  of  the  nation  ;  and  if  I 
have  formed  too  low  an  opinion  of  the  motives  of  English  statesmen  at  that 
time,  and  am  not  justified  in  attributing  the  annexation  to  greed  instead  of 
to  the  purer  and  nobler  desire  to  protect  England's  colonies,  or  even  the 
Transvaal  itself,  from  the  inroads  of  savages,  then  my  excuse  must  be  that 
the  failure  of  England  to  send  out  at  that  time  a  force  equal  to  the  task  of 
restraining  those  savages  and  maintaining  peace,  has  helped  materially  to 
lead  me  to  the  unwarrantable  conclusion.^ 

And  so  came  the  war.  The  history  of  it  is  written  that  all  may 
read ;  and  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  refer  at  length  to  the  details  of 
it.  The  utterly  unjust  treatment  of  Bezuidenhout  at  Potchefstroom 
was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  outbreak.  The  armed  interference  of 
the  Potchefstroom  burghers  with  the  Imperial  officials  followed  on 
December  16,  to  be  in  turn  succeeded  by  the  battle  of  Bronkhorst 
Spruit  on  the  20th. 

1  It  is  only  fair  to  state  that  at  that  time  the  Home  Government  believed 
the  prestige  of  the  Imperial  authority  to  be  sufficient  for  all  purposes. 


-:1 


26  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  following  account  of  the  affair  is  taken  from  Mr.  Carter's  book : 

All  went  well  on  tliis  day  till  about  2.30  p.m.,  when  the  following  was 
about  the  order  of  march  :  One  mounted  infantryman  in  advance  of  the  main 
body  next  the  band  ;  of  F  company,  forty  men  ;  of  A  company,  foi'ty  men  ; 
then  followed  the  quarter  guard,  thirteen  men  ;  and  provost- escort  and 
prisoners,  twenty-three  men.  The  remainder  of  the  force  was  posted  along 
the  string  of  waggons,  with  the  exception  of  the  rear-guard  of  about  twenty 
men,  which  were  some  distance  behind.  Colonel  Anstruther,  Captains 
Nairne  and  Elliot,  Lieutenant  Hume,  and  Adjutant  Harrison  were  riding  just 
in  front  of  the  band,  when  suddenly  Boers  appeared  all  round.  The  locality 
that  the  regiment  had  reached  at  the  time  was  one  where  stood  several  farms, 
and  the  trees  surrounding  these  homesteads  afforded  cover  under  which  a 
hostile  force  could  assemble  without  being  perceived  from  a  distance.  On  the 
right  was  a  ravine  with  wood  in  it,  and  amongst  that  the  Boers  were  lying  in 
ambush.  How  unexpected  was  the  appearance  of  a  force  of  Boera  to  the 
English  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  the  band  of  the  regiment  was 
playing  at  the  time.  Colonel  Anstruther,  immediately  he  caught  sight  of 
the  enemy  on  the  crest  of  a  slight  rise  to  the  front,  called  a  halt,  and  the 
order  was  passed  to  the  rear  for  tlie  waggons  to  close  up.  Before  this  could 
be  done  a  messenger  from  the  enemy,  carrying  a  white  flag,  came  forw-ard 
and  handed  the  Colonel  a  note  signed  by  Piet  Joubert,  and  countersigned  by 
other  Boer  leaders,  desiring  him  to  halt  where  he  was  until  a  reply  had  been 
received  from  Sir  Owen  Lanyon  to  the  ultimatum  the  Boers  had  addressed  to 
him.  The  message  also  contained  the  warning  that  if  the  soldiers  advanced 
beyond  a  small  stream  in  front  of  them,  it  would  be  taken  as  a  declaration  of 
war.  Colonel  Anstruther,  with  Conductor  Egerton,  had  ridden  out  in  front 
of  the  advanced  guard  to  meet  this  flag  of  truce ;  after  he  liad  read  the 
message,  the  bearer  of  it  informed  him  verbally  that  two  minutes  were  allowed 
for  his  decision.  Colonel  Anstruther  verbally  replied  that  he  should  march 
on  to  Pretoria,  and,  to  use  his  own  words,  as  published  in  his  despatch 
written  just  before  he  died,  the  Boer  messenger  '  said  that  he  would  take  my 
message  to  the  Commandant-General ;  and  I  asked  him  to  let  me  know  the 
result,  to  which  he  nodded  assent.  Almost  immediately,  however,  the 
enemy's  line  advanced.' 

Whilst  this  short  parley  was  going  on  every  efibrt  was  being  made  in  the 
rear  to  get  the  waggons  up,  but  without  much  good  result,  because  when  the 
Boers  opened  fire  the  rearguard  would  be  at  least  half  a  mile  behind  the 
head  of  the  column.  Even  those  who  were  guarding  the  waggons  had  not 
time  to  join  the  main  body.  When  Colonel  Anstruther  saw  the  Boers  ad- 
vancing he  gave  the  order  to  his  men  to  extend  in  skii-mishing  order,  but 
before  they  could  open  out  to  more  than  loose  files  they  were  met  with  a 
mvirderous  volley,  and  at  the  same  time  Boers  on  the  right  and  left  flank  and 
in  the  rear,  who  had  previously  measured  and  marked  off  the  distances, 
picked  off  every  man  within  sight.  Our  men  returned  the  fire  as  best  they 
could,  but  in  less  than  ten  minutes  120  were  either  killed  or  wounded, 
besides  a  large  proportion  of  the  oxen  in  the  waggons  shot.  The  officers  who 
exposed  themselves  were  picked  off  almost  immediately  by  the  Boer  marks- 
men. Captain  Nairne,  Lieutenant  M'Sweeney,  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant 
Harrison,  Lieutenant  Hume,  Deputy- Assistant  Commissary- General  Barter, 
Conductor  Egerton,  Surgeon  Ward,  were  all  wounded,  besides  Colonel 
Anstruther  himself,  who  was  shot  in  two  or  three  places. 

It  was  useless  to  contend  against  such  odds,  and  the  '  cease  fire '  was 
sounded  and  handkerchiefs  waved  to  denote  submission.  During  this 
unequal  struggle,  Mrs.  Smith,  the  widow  of  the  bandmaster  of  the  regiment, 


/^ 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  27 

who,  with  the  wife  of  Sergeant-Major  Fox  and  some  children,  were  riding  in 
one  of  the  foremost  waggons,  came  fearlessly  up  to  where  the  wounded  laj^, 
and,  tearing  strips  from  her  clothing,  helped  the  surgeon  to  bandage  the 
wounds.  The  sergeant-major's  wife  was  severely  wounded,  as  was  also  Fox 
himself.  There  was  no  lack  of  heroism  during  those  awful  ten  minutes, 
whilst  men  were  being  shot  down  like  dogs.  Lieutenant  Harrison  was  shot 
through  the  head  while  cheering  on  his  men  ;  Lieutenant  Hume  was  equally 
conspicuous  for  his  coolness.  An  orderly-room  clerk  named  Maistre  and  the 
Sergeant-Master-Tailor  Pears  quietly  concealed  the  regimental  colours  in  a 
waggon-box  when  they  saw  the  danger  of  them  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy ;  and  their  work  was  not  in  vain,  as  Conductor  Egerton  managed 
subsequently  to  wrap  them  round  his  body  under  his  tunic,  and  having 
obtained  permission  after  the  fight  was  over  to  walk  to  Pretoria  for  medical 
assistance,  he  carried  them  safely  to  the  capital,  as  well  as  the  disastrous 
news  of  the  engagement.  Forty-two  miles  traversed  by  a  wounded  man  on 
foot  in  eleven  hours  is  in  itself  a  feat  worth  mentioning,  and  one  the  value  of 
which  can  only  be  really  estimated  by  those  who  know  what  South  African 
roads  are  in  the  rainy  seasons. 

As  soon  as  our  force  surrendered,  Franz  Joubert,  who  had  been  in  command 
of  the  Boers,  and  who,  it  is  said,  fired  the  first  shot  with  the  exclamation, 
'  What  is  the  use  of  waiting  ?'  came  forward  with  some  of  his  men,  and  on 
finding  poor  Colonel  Anstruther  severely  wounded  expressed  sorrow. 

Whether  the  affair  of  Bronkhorst  Spruit  can  be  called  an  act  of  treachery 
on  the  part  of  the  Boers  is  rather  a  nice  question.  Colonel  Anstruther's 
words — the  words  of  a  dying  man — rather  go  to  prove  that  he  was  unfairly 
treated,  though  he  does  not  say  so  directly.  He  was  given  to  understand  by 
the  messenger  who  came  with  the  flag  of  truce  that  another  communication 
would  be  made  to  him  as  soon  as  his  reply  to  the  request  to  halt  had  been 
reported  to  the  Boer  Commandant.  The  only  reply  given  him  was  *  a 
murderous  volley.'  The  Boers  cannot  lay  claim  to  much  bravery  or  superi- 
ority (except  in  numbers)  over  our  soldiers  in  this  fight.  Theirs  was  a 
deliberately-planned  ambush  to  entrap  men  who  had  no  idea  that  they  were 
marching  in  an  enemy's  country.  Bronkhorst  Spruit  engagement  is  the  one 
during  the  whole  of  the  war  which  does  not  redound  to  the  credit  of  the 
Dutch,  even  if  it  does  not  reflect  great  discredit  upon  them.  If  a  reasonable 
time  had  been  allowed  Colonel  Anstruther  to  give  his  reply,  the  94th  could 
not  then  say,  as  they  do  say  and  will  say,  that  they  were  treacherously 
surprised.  '  Two  minutes  '  looks,  under  the  circumstances,  very  much  like 
an  idle  pretence  of  fair  dealing  to  cover  an  intentional  act  of  cowardice  which 
subsequent  conduct  could  hardly  palliate.  The  Boers  say  that  they  had  not 
more  men  than  were  marching  with  the  94th  on  that  occasion  ;  that  state- 
ment is  worth  very  little,  considering  the  evidence  of  our  ofl[icers,  and,  above 
all,  the  harsh  evidence  of  the  facts  that  the  94th  was  from  advance-guard  to 
rear-guard  practically  surrounded  and  outnumbered  in  every  direction. 

The  preparedness  of  the  Boers  and  the  precision  of  their  fire  may 
be  gathered  from  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Crow,  of  Pretoria,  who  attended 
the  wounded,  and  vouched  for  an  average  of  five  wounds  per  man. 
Dr.  Crow  also  wrote  : 

But  as  disastrous  as  the  late  war  in  the  Transvaal  had  been  to  British 
prestige,  thank  God  those  at  Bronkhorst  Spruit  did  their  duty  and  died  like 
men,  a  noble  example  to  any  army.  If  any  stain  has  been  cast  on  the  British 
flag  in  the  Transvaal,  the  gallant  94th  did  all  that  was  possible  by  their 
deeds  at  Bronkhorst  Spruit  to  obliterate  it. 


28  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  news  of  this  affair  was  received  with  horror,  and  the  feelings 
roused  by  the  details  of  it  have  never  been  allayed.  Race-hatred  may 
have  its  origin  in  a  hundred  little  incidents,  but  in  the  Transvaal  there 
were  two  which  undoubtedly,  whether  justly  or  otherwise,  gave  a, 
character  to  the  Boers  that  has  embittered  feeling  against  them  more 
than  any  which  had  occurred  in  generations  previous.  The  second 
affair  followed  very  closely  on  the  Bronkhorst  Spruit  engagement — 
i.e.,  the  infamous  murder  of  Captain  Elliot,  the  only  surviving  un- 
wounded  officer  from  Bronkhorst  Spruit.  Captains  Elliot  and  Lambert 
were  taken  prisoners,  and  were  offered  the  choice  of  two  alternatives — 
either  to  remain  prisoners  of  war  during  the  hostilities  in  the  Transvaal, 
or  to  be  released  on  parole  dlionneur  on  condition  that  they  should 
leave  the  Transvaal  at  once,  cross  into  the  Free  State  under  escort,  and 
not  bear  arms  against  the  Republican  Government  during  the  war. 
The  second  alternative  was  chosen.  They  received  an  escort  and  free 
pass  from  Commandant- General  Piet  Joubert.  The  following  is  ex- 
tracted from  Captain  Lambert's  Report  to  Sir  George  CoUey  on 
January  5 : 

We  started  about  1  p.m.  from  the  Boer  cainp,  passing  through  the  town  of 
Heidelberg.  After  going  about  six  to  eight  miles,  I  noticed  we  were  not 
going  the  right  road,  and  mentioned  the  fact  to  the  escort,  who  said  it  w"as 
all  right.  Having  been  '  look-out '  officer  in  the  Transvaal,  I  knew  the 
district  well.  I  was  certain  we  were  going  wrong,  but  we  had  to  obey  orders. 
At  nightfall  we  found  ourselves  nowhere  near  the  river  drift,  and  were 
ordered  to  outspan  for  the  night,  and  next  morning  the  escort  told  us  they 
would  look  for  the  drift.  Inspanning  at  daybreak,  we  again  started,  but 
after  driving  about  for  some  hours  across  country,  I  told  the  escort  we  would 
stop  where  we  were  while  they  went  to  search  for  the  drift.  Shortly  after 
they  returned  and  said  they  had  found  it,  and  we  must  come,  which  we  did, 
eventually  arriving  at  the  junction  of  two  rivers  (Vaal  and  Klip),  where  we 
found  the  Vaal  impassable,  but  a  small  punt,  capable  of  holding  only  two 
passengers  at  most,  by  which  they  said  we  must  cross.  I  pointed  out  that 
it  was  impossible  to  get  my  carriage  or  horses  over  by  it,  and  that  it  was  not 
the  punt  the  General  said  we  were  to  cross.  The  escort  replied  it  was  to 
Pretorius's  punt  that  the  General  told  them  to  take  us,  and  we  must  cross  ; 
that  we  must  leave  the  carriage  behind  and  swim  the  horses,  which  we 
refused  to  do,  as  we  then  should  have  had  no  means  of  getting  on.  I  asked 
them  to  show  me  their  written  instructions,  Avhich  they  did  (written  in 
Dutch),  and  I  pointed  out  that  the  name  of  Pretorius  was  not  in  it.  I  then 
told  them  they  must  either  take  us  back  to  the  Boer  camp  again  or  on  to  the 
proper  drift.  We  turned  back,  and  after  going  a  few  miles  the  escort  dis- 
appeared. Not  knowing  where  we  were,  I  proposed  to  Captain  Elliot  we 
should  go  to  the  banks  of  the  Vaal,  and  follow  the  river  till  we  came  to  the 
proper  punt.  After  travelling  all  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  up  till  Wednesday 
about  1  p.m. ,  when  we  found  ourselves  four  hours,  or  twenty-five  miles,  from 
Spencer's  pimt,  we  were  suddenly  stopped  by  two  armed  Boers,  who  handed 
us  an  official  letter,  which  was  opened,  and  found  to  be  from  the  Secretary  to 
the  Republican  Government,  stating  that  the  members  were  surprised  that, 
as  officers  and  gentlemen,  we  had  broken  our  parole  d'honneur,  and  refused 
to  leave  the  Transvaal ;  that  if  we  did  not  do  so  immediately  by  the  nearest 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  29 

drift,  which  the  bearers  would  show  us,  we  must  return  as  prisoners  of  war  ; 
that  as  througli  our  ignorance  of  the  language  of  the  country  there  might  be 
some  misunderstanding,  they  were  loath  to  think  we  had  willingly  broken  our 
promise.  We  explained  that  we  should  reply  to  the  letter,  and  request  them 
to  take  it  to  their  Government,  and  were  prepared  to  go  with  them  at  once. 
They  took  us  back  to  a  farmhouse,  where  we  were  told  to  wait  until  they 
fetched  their  commandant,  who  arrived  about  6  p.m.,  and  repeated  to  us  the 
same  that  was  contained  in  our  letter  of  that  day.  We  told  him  we  were 
ready  to  explain  matters,  and  requested  him  to  take  our  answer  back  to 
camp.  He  then  ordered  us  to  start  at  once  for  the  drift.  I  asked  him,  as  it 
was  then  getting  dark,  if  we  could  start  early  next  morning,  but  he  refused. 
So  we  started,  he  having  said  we  should  cross  at  Spencer's,  being  closest. 
As  we  left  the  farmhouse  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  we  were  going  in  the 
wrong  direction  ;  but  he  said,  '  Never  mind  ;  come  on  across  a  drift  close  at 
hand.'  When  we  got  opposite  it,  he  kept  straight  on ;  I  called  to  him,  and 
said  that  this  was  where  we  were  to  cross.  His  reply  was,  '  Come  on  !'  I 
then  said  to  Captain  Elliot,  '  They  intend  taking  us  back  to  Pretoria,'  distant 
some  forty  miles.  Suddenly  the  escort  (which  had  all  at  once  increased  from 
two  to  eight  men,  which  Captain  Elliot  pointed  out  to  me  ;  and  I  replied, 
'  I  suppose  tliey  are  determined  we  shall  not  escape,  which  they  need  not  be 
afraid  of,  as  we  are  too  keen  to  get  over  the  border ')  wheeled  sharp  down  to 
the  river,  stopped,  and,  pointing  to  the  banks,  said,  'There  is  the  drift — 
cross  !'  I  drove  my  horses  into  the  river,  when  they  immediately  fell ;  lifted 
them,  and  drove  on  about  five  or  six  yards,  when  we  fell  into  a  hole.  Got 
them  out  with  difficulty,  and  advanced  another  yard,  when  we  got  stuck 
against  a  rock.  The  current  was  now  so  strong  and  drift  deep,  my  cart  was 
turned  over  on  to  its  side,  and  water  rushed  over  the  seat.  I  called  out  to 
the  commandant  on  the  bank  that  we  were  stuck  and  to  send  assistance,  or 
might  we  return,  to  which  he  replied,  '  If  you  do,  we  will  shoot  you.'  I  then 
tried,  but  failed,  to  get  the  horses  to  move.  Turning  to  Captain  Elliot,  who 
was  sitting  beside  me,  I  said,  *  We  must  swim  for  it, '  and  asked  could  he  swim, 
to  which  he  replied,  '  Yes. '  I  said,  '  If  you  can't,  I  will  stick  to  you,  for  I 
can.'  While  we  were  holding  this  conversation,  a  volley  from  the  bank,  ten 
or  fifteen  yards  off,  was  fired  into  us,  the  bullets  passing  through  the  tent  of 
my  cart,  one  of  which  must  have  mortally  wounded  poor  Elliot,  who  only 
uttered  the  single  word  *  Oh  !'  and  fell  headlong  into  the  river  from  the 
carriage.  I  immediately  sprang  in  after  him,  but  was  swept  down  the 
river  under  the  current  some  yards.  On  gaining  the  surface  of  the  water  I 
could  see  nothing  of  Elliot,  but  I  called  out  his  name  twice,  but  received 
no  reply.  Immediately  another  volley  was  fired  at  me,  making  the  water 
hiss  around  where  the  bullets  struck.  I  now  struck  out  for  the  opposite 
bank,  which  I  reached  with  difficulty  in  about  ten  minutes ;  but  as  it  was 
deep,  black  mud,  on  landing  I  stuck  fast,  but  eventually  reached  the  top  of 
the  bank,  and  ran  for  about  two  hundred  yards  under  a  heavy  fire  the  whole 
while. 

The  Boers  then  invaded  Natal  and  took  up  a  position  on  Laing's 
Nek,  four  miles  inside  the  Natal  border,  from  which,  on  January  28, 
Sir  George  CoUey  endeavoured  to  oust  them  vs^ith  a  mounted  force  of 
70  men  and  some  500  men  of  the  58th  Eegiment.  The  position  is  one 
difficult  enough  to  climb  unencumbered  by  military  accoutrements,  but 
the  disposition  of  the  Httle  mounted  force  covered  the  approach.  By 
some  unexplained  mistake,  however,  half  of  the  mounted  infantry 


30  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

charged  and  carried  the  Boer  position  before  the  68th  had  climbed  the 
hill,  but  were  too  weak  to  hold  it,  and  retired,  leaving  the  58th 
uncovered  in  a  terrible  ascent.  But  few  of  the  exhausted  men  reached 
the  top  of  the  hill,  and  those,  led  by  Colonel  Deane,  only  to  be  shot 
down.  Of  the  mounted  men,  17  were  killed  and  wounded ;  of  the 
58th,  73  were  killed  and  100  wounded.  The  result  was  absolute  defeat 
of  the  British  forces.  The  number  of  Boers  engaged  is  not  known, 
but  the  force  behind  the  Nek  consisted  of  several  thousands,  and  no 
doubt  a  fair  proportion  engaged  in  the  fight. 

On  February  8  General  CoUey  made  a  demonstration  in  force  on  the 
Ingogo  Heights.  The  force  consisted  of  under  300  men,  with  4  guns 
and  38  mounted  men.  On  the  Boer  side  there  were  about  1,000  men, 
and  the  fight  lasted  from  morning  until  after  dark.  It  was  a  drawn 
fight,  in  which  both  parties  left  the  battlefield  at  night.  There  cannot 
be  any  doubt,  however,  that  the  balance  of  advantage  was  with  the 
Boers,  since  the  loss  on  the  British  side  was  very  severe :  76  men  were 
killed  and  69  wounded. 

On  February  27  came  Majuba,  when  Sir  George  Colley  designed  to 
retrieve  his  fortunes  and  strike  an  effective  blow  without  the  aid  of  his 
second-in-command.  Sir  Evelyn  Wood,  whom  he  had  sent  to  hurry  up 
reinforcements.  The  scaling  of  the  mountain  at  night  was  a  fine  per- 
formance. The  neglect  to  take  the  rocket  apparatus  or  mountain 
guns,  or  to  fortify  the  position  in  any  way,  or  even  to  acquaint  the 
members  of  the  force  with  the  nature  of  the  position  which  they  had 
taken  up  in  the  dark,  and  the  failure  to  use  the  bayonet,  were  the 
principal  causes  of  disaster.  The  Boers  attacked  in  force  a  position 
which  should  have  been  absolutely  impregnable,  held  as  it  was  by  a 
force  of  554  soldiers.  The  Boer  force  is  not  known,  but  probably  con- 
sisted of  upwards  of  1,000  men,  since  Christaan  Joubert  after  the  fight 
offered  to  take  a  portion  of  the  men,  numbering,  as  he  said,  some  500, 
to  attack  a  small  British  laager  on  one  of  the  spurs  of  the  mountain. 
The  splendid  feat  of  taking  the  hilltop,  however,  was  accomplished  by 
a  small  storming  party  of  less  than  200  men,  the  balance  of  the  Boer 
forces  covering  the  approach  of  their  comrades  by  an  accurate  and 
incessant  long-range  fire.  The  result,  as  is  known,  was  terrible  disaster : 
92  killed  and  134  wounded,  and  a  number  taken  prisoners,  represented 
the  British  loss,  whilst  the  Boers  lost  1  killed  and  6  wounded.  No 
attempt  had  been  made  to  occupy  positions  below  the  crown  of  the  hill 
which  commanded  the  approaches,  and  the  Boers  were  able  to  creep 
up  under  good  cover  from  place  to  place  by  the  exercise  of  their 
admirable  tactics.  It  is  impossible  to  detract  from  the  performance  of 
the  Boers,  and  a  glance  at  the  position  leaves  one  more  astonished 
than  ever  that  a  successful  attack  could  ever  have  been  made  upon  it. 
The  Boers  displayed  on  this  day  the  finest  fighting  qualities.  The 
generalship  of  their  fighting  Commandant,  Nikolas  Smit,  was  of  the 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  31 

highest  order.  The  cleverness  of  the  attack,  and  the  personal  bravery 
and  audacity  of  the  storming  party,  are  beyond  praise. 

By  the  time  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  had  ranged  his  forces  for  an  effective 
and  extended  attack  on  the  Boers,  and  by  the  time  Sir  Frederick 
Eoberts  with  the  command  of  about  10,000  men  had  reached  South 
Africa,  the  administration  of  Mr,  Gladstone  had  awakened  to  the  fact 
that  the  war  was  an  unjust — not  to  say  costly— one.  An  armistice 
was  arranged  and  peace  was  made  without  another  blow. 

The  terms  of  the  settlement  proposed  by  the  Liberal  Government 
fitly  illustrate  the  generosity  of  their  motives.  They  proposed  doing 
'  simple  justice  '  to  the  Boers,  but  at  the  same  time  retaining  the 
districts  of  Lydenburg,  Middelburg,  Wakkerstroom,  and  Utrecht,  not 
to  mention  handing  back  Zoutpansberg  to  the  original  native  occupants. 
So  anxious  were  the  Boer  leaders  to  effect  a  peaceful  settlement,  so 
fearful  were  they  of  the  actions  of  their  followers,  that  when  they 
arranged  the  long  armistice  they  did  not  announce  to  their  party  the 
intentions  of  the  British  Government  regarding  the  above  districts. 
General  Joubert  did  not  communicate  to  his  army  the  terms  of  peace, 
but  simply  stated  that  a  Eoyal  Commission  was  to  settle  everything. 
A  month  later,  when  some  inkling  of  the  terms  reached  the  Boers,  a 
solemn  protest  and  warning  was  issued,  and  when  the  Royal  Commis- 
sion actually  sat,  the  British  representatives  were  informed  that  any 
such  curtailment  of  the  territories  would  be  followed  by  a  resumption 
of  hostilities.  Needless  to  say  the  proposals  were  abandoned  and  the 
Boers  got  their  way.     So  ended  the  war. 

Ingogo  has  been  called  a  di-awn  battle.  Bronkhorst  Spruit  was  — 
such  as  it  was.  At  Laing's  Nek  and  Majuba  the  Boers  beat  us,  as 
Mr.  Carter  fairly  puts  it,  *  when  they  were  on  the  top  of  the  hill  and 
we  were  at  the  bottom,  and  when  we  were  on  the  top  of  the  hill  and 
they  were  at  the  bottom.'  The  narrative  of  these  events  is  about  as 
humiliating  a  one  as  an  Englishman  can  read.  Here  and  there  it  is 
redeemed  by  the  heroic  conduct  of  individuals  in  the  midst  of  general 
disaster.  In  the  smaller  affairs,  such  as  the  particularly  gallant 
defences  of  Standerton,  Potchefstroom,  and  Rustenberg,  where  little 
garrisons  held  their  own  with  conspicuous  ability  and  coiu^age,  there 
is  something  to  cheer  the  disheartened  reader.  The  defence  of  Potchef- 
stroom by  Colonel  Winslow  should  be  read  in  full  for  several  reasons. 
The  siege  of  Standerton  witnessed  several  acts  of  valour,  but,  above 
all,  that  of  Hall,  the  volunteer,  who  single-handed  deliberately  engaged 
a  force  of  over  300  Boers,  drawing  their  fire  on  himself  in  order  to 
warn  his  comrades  of  the  danger  of  being  cut  off  and  to  give  them  a 
chance  of  escape — a  noble  act,  in  which  the  gallant  fellow  achieved  his 
object  but  lost  his  life.  It  was  in  Rustenberg  where  Captain  Auchinleck, 
with  about  seventy''  men,  armed  only  with  rifles,  held  his  laager  against 
hundreds  of  the  enemy,  fighting  day  and  night  for  weeks,  and  eventually 


32  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

drove  off  the  Boers,  who  were  trenching  towards  his  position,  by 
charging  at  night  with  from  nine  to  fourteen  of  his  men,  and  clearing 
the  enemy  out  of  the  trenches  with  the  bayonet.  This  performance  he 
repeated  three  times,  himself  badly  wounded  on  each  occasion.  The 
impression  created  on  the  enemy  by  these  tactics  was  such  that  they 
overcame  their  desire  to  get  at  close  quarters  with  him  and  left  him 
severely  alone. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  refer  in  great  detail  to  the  settlement.  In  effect 
it  was  that  the  Boers  gained  nearly  all  that  they  required,  but  not  until 
the  haggling  and  threatening  had  robbed  concessions  of  all  appearance 
of  grace  and  justice.  The  natives  were  referred  to  in  the  conventional 
spirit.  The  unfortunate  loyalists  were  left  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
The  men  who  had  entered  the  Transvaal,  and  invested  their  capital 
and  expended  their  energies  there  upon  the  most  positive  and  sacred 
assurances  of  the  British  Government  that  the  Queen's  authority  would 
never  be  withdrawn — assurances  given  in  public  by  the  Conservative 
Government,  and  confirmed  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  Government,  assurances 
published  by  Sir  Bartle  Frere  and  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley,  who  said  that 
'  as  long  as  the  sun  would  shine  the  British  flag  would  fly  over  the 
Transvaal ' — were  heartlessly  abandoned,  their  protests  were  unheeded, 
the  compensation  allotted  to  them,  namely  ^1,400,000,  was  amended 
by  the  elimination  of  the  million,  their  representations  to  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's Government  were  finally  left  unanswered— imless  it  be  that  the 
sneering  reference  made  by  that  right  honourable  gentleman  in  the 
House  of  Commons  to  'interested  contractors  and  landjobbers'  may 
be  considered  an  adequate  answer  to  a  protest  as  moderate,  as  able,  as 
truthful,  and  as  necessary  as  Mr.  Gladstone's  remark  was  the  reverse. 
In  very  truth,  the  position  in  which  the  British  Premier  had  placed 
himself  through  his  intemperate  speeches  in  the  Midlothian  campaign, 
and  his  subsequent  '  explaining  away,'  was  an  extremely  unpleasant 
one.  In  Opposition,  Mr.  Gladstone  had  denounced  the  annexation  and 
demanded  a  repeal.  On  accession  to  power  he  adopted  the  policy  of 
his  predecessors,  and  affirmed  that  the  annexation  could  never  be 
revoked.  On  June  8,  1880,  he  had  written  to  this  effect  to  Messrs. 
Kruger  and  Joubert,  the  Transvaal  deputation.  Later  on,  in  answer 
to  an  appeal  that  he  should  aUay  the  apprehensions  of  the  loyalists, 
who  feared  the  results  of  the  Boer  agitation,  he  referred  them  to  this 
very  letter  as  a  final  expression  of  opinion,  and  authorized  the  publica- 
tion of  this  message.  When,  however,  peace  had  been  concluded,  and 
the  loyalists,  amazed  and  heartbroken  at  their  threatened  desertion, 
reminded  him  of  his  pledges  and  implored  him  to  respect  them,  he 
answered  them  in  a  letter  which  is  surely  without  parallel  in  the 
record  of  self-respecting  Governments.  To  people  who  had  staked 
their  lives  and  their  all  upon  pledges  given  in  turn  by  both  Conserva- 
tive and  Liberal  administrations,  desertion  was  wholly  indefensible ; 


IN  EARLIER  DAYS  83 

and  it  must  be  said  that  Mr.  Gladstone's  method  of  dealing  with  the 
loyahsts'  addresses  by  dexterous  '  explaining  away  '  of  his  pledges  only 
added  to  the  bitterness.  But  what  answer  could  be  made  to  a  protest 
which  reminded  the  right  honourable  gentleman  of  the  following 
deliberate  and  official  expression  of  his  Government's  policy  ? 

In  your  letter  to  me  (wrote  Mr.  White  for  the  loyalists)  you  claim  that  the 
language  of  your  letter  does  not  justify  the  description  given.  With  the 
greatest  respect  I  submit  that  it  does,  and  I  will  quote  the  words  on  which  I 
and  also  my  colleagues  base  the  opinion  that  it  does  unequivocally  pledge  the 
Government  to  the  non-relinquishment  of  the  Transvaal. 

The  actual  words  of  your  letter  are  : 

*  Looking  at  all  the  circumstances,  both  of  the  Transvaal  and  the  rest  of 
South  Africa,  and  to  the  necessity  of  preventing  a  renewal  of  the  disorders, 
which  might  lead  to  disastrous  consequences,  not  only  to  the  Transvaal,  but 
to  the  whole  of  South  Africa,  our  judgment  is  that  the  Queen  cannot  be  advised 
to  relinquish  the  Transvaal ;  but,  consistently  with  the  maintenance  of  that 
sovei'eignty,  we  desire  that  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  Transvaal  should, 
without  prejudice  to  the  rest  of  the  population,  enjoy  the  fullest  liberty  to 
manage  their  local  affairs.' 

But  your  letter  of  the  8th  of  June  not  only  contained  this  final  and  absolute 
announcement  of  the  policy  of  England,  but  it  gave  the  reasons  for  arriving  at 
it  in  words  which  so  aptly  express  the  case  of  the  loyalists  that  I  quote  them 
in  extenso.     They  are  as  follows  : 

'  It  is  undoubtedly  matter  for  much  regret  that  it  should,  since  the  annexa- 
tion, have  appeared  that  so  large  a  number  of  the  population  of  Dutch  origin 
in  the  Transvaal  are  opposed  to  the  annexation  of  that  territory,  hut  it  is 
impossible  now  to  consider  that  question  as  if  it  were  presented  for  the  first  time. 
We  have  to  do  with  a  state  of  things  which  has  existed  for  a  considerable 
period,  during  which  obligations  have  been  contracted,  especially,  though  not 
exclusively,  towards  the  native  population,  which  cannot  be  set  aside.' 

In  your  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  debate  on  Mr.  Peter 
Rylands'  motion  condemning  the  annexation  of  the  country  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  British  supremacy  in  it,  which  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  ninety- 
six,  on  the  21st  of  January  in  the  current  year,  you  used  words  of  similar 
import.     You  are  reported  in  the  Times  of  the  22nd  of  January  as  saying : 

'  To  disapprove  the  annexation  of  a  country  is  one  thing  ;  to  abandon  that 
annexation  is  another.  Whatever  we  do,  we  must  not  blind  ourselves  to  the 
legitimate  consequences  of  facts.  By  the  annexation  of  the  Transvaal  we 
contracted  new  obligations.  ...  I  must  look  at  the  obligations  entailed  by 
the  annexatioij,  and  if  in  my  opinion,  and  in  the  opinion  of  many  on  this  side 
of  the  House,  wrong  was  done  by  the  annexation  itself,  that  would  not  warrant 
us  in  doing  fresh,  distinct,  and  separate  wrong  by  a  disregard  of  the  obligation 
which  that  amiexation  entailed.  These  obligations  have  been  referred  to  in 
this  debate,  and  have  been  mentioned  in  the  compass  of  a  single  sentence. 
First,  there  was  the  obligation  entailed  towards  the  English  and  other  settlers 
in  the  Transvaal,  perhaps  including  a  minority,  though  a  very  small  minority, 
of  the  Dutch  Boers  themselves  ;  secondly,  there  was  the  obligation  to  the 
native  races  ;  and,  thirdly,  there  was  the  obligation  we  entailed  upon  our- 
selves in  respect  of  the  responsibility  which  was  already  incumbent  upon  us, 
and  which  we,  by  the  annexation,  largely  extended,  for  the  future  peace  and 
tranquillity  of  South  Africa. ' 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  loyalists  proceeded  to  remind  him  that  Lord 
Kimberley,  his  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  had  telegraphed  in 


34  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

May,  1880,  '  Under  no  circumstances  can  the  Queen's  authority  in  the 
Transvaal  be  relinquished,'  and  had  confirmed  the  telegram  in  a 
despatch  following  ;  and  that  his  lordship  had  also  stated  in  the  House 
of  Lords  on  May  24,  that  '  .  .  .  after  a  careful  consideration  of  the 
position,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  could  not  relinquish 
the  Transvaal.  Nothing  could  be  more  unfortunate  than  uncertainty 
in  respect  to  such  a  matter'  (Hansard,  cclii.,  p.  208). 

The  effects  of  the  settlement,  and  the  exposures  in  connection  with 
it,  and  the  attitude  of  the  Imperial  Government,  were  most  deplorable. 
No  credit  was  given  by  the  Boers  to  a  Government  which  became 
magnanimous  only  after  it  was  defeated.  No  feeling  but  contempt, 
disgust,  and  even  hatred,  could  be  entertained  by  the  loyalists  for  the 
Government  which  had  so  shamelessly  deserted  them.  The  settlement 
has  left  its  indelible  mark  upon  the  sentiment  of  South  Africa.  The 
war,  it  will  generally  be  admitted,  was  a  most  unfortunate  occurrence. 
Only  one  thing  could  have  been  more  unfortunate,  and  that  was  such 
a  settlement  as  actually  was  effected — a  settlement  which  satisfied  no 
one,  which  outraged  all,  which  threw  South  Africa  into  a  state  of 
boiling  discontent.  In  some  quarters  the  defeats  of  Majuba  and  Laing's 
Nek  rankled  deeply,  yet  they  were  fair  fights,  and  Time  can  be  trusted 
to  allay  the  feelings  of  those  who  are  worsted  in  a  fair  fight ;  but  there 
were  other  matters  which  roused  a  spirit  in  the  English-speaking 
people  of  South  Africa  that  had  never  been  known  before. 

The  former  records  of  the  Boers,  favourable  and  unfavourable,  are 
consistent  with  the  records  established  in  the  War  of  Independence. 
None  dare  belittle  the  spirit  which  moved  them  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  greatest  Power  in  the  world.  Their  ignorance  may  have  been 
great,  but  not  so  great  as  to  blind  them  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
undertaking  an  unequal  contest.  It  is  not  possible  to  say,  with  due 
regard  to  their  records,  that  they  are  not  a  courageous  people.  Indi- 
vidual bravery,  of  the  kind  which  takes  no  heed  of  personal  risk, 
reckless  heroic  dash,  they  have  not,  nor  do  they  pretend  to  have. 
Their  system  is  entirely  otherwise.  They  do  not  seek  fighting  for 
fighting's  sake.  They  do  not  like  exposing  themselves  to  risk  and 
danger.  Their  caution  and  their  care  for  personal  safety  are  such  that, 
judged  by  the  standards  of  other  people's  conduct  in  similar  positions, 
they  are  frequently  considered  to  be  wanting  in  personal  courage.  It 
seems  a  hard  thing  to  say  of  a  people  who  have  produced  men  like  the 
first  Bezuidenhout,  who  fought  and  died  single-handed  against  the 
British  troops ;  men  like  Piet  Retief ,  as  gallant  a  man  as  ever  walked ; 
men  like  Piet  Uys,  an  example  to  aU  men  for  all  time,  and  only  one 
of  many  generations  in  one  family  of  equally  gallant  Dutchmen ;  but 
it  would  truly  seem  that  such  examples  do  not  occur  with  such  fre- 
quency among  the  Boers  as  among  nations  with  whom  they  have  been 
compared.     Where  they  have  been  able  to  choose  their  own  positions, 


m  EARLIER  DAYS  35 

or  where  they  have  been  stmiulated  by  previous  successes,  they  have 
done  all  that  could  possibly  be  asked  of  them;  but  their  particular 
military  system  does  not  conduce  to  success  under  circumstances 
where  men  are  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  called  upon  to  exhibit  the 
virtues  of  discipline,  to  make  what  to  the  individual  may  appear  a 
useless  sacrifice  of  life,  or,  in  cold  blood  and  in  the  face  of  previous 
defeat,  to  attempt  to  retrieve  a  lost  position. 

The  Boer  military  power  has  been  called  the  biggest  unpricked 
bubble  in  the  world.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not — whether  the  early 
conflicts  between  the  British  troops  and  the  Boers  in  the  Cape  Colony 
and  Natal  justify  the  view  that  the  Boers  cannot  take  a  beating  and 
come  up  again — is  a  matter  for  those  to  decide  who  will  give  their 
impartial  attention  to  the  records. 

Whilst  conspicuous  personal  daring  among  the  Boers  may  not  be 
proverbial,  it  must  be  remembered  to  their  everlasting  credit  that  they, 
as  did  the  Southerners  in  the  American  Civil  War,  robbed  the  cradle 
and  the  grave  to  defend  their  country.  Boys  who  were  mere  children 
bore  rifles  very  nearly  as  long  as  themselves ;  old  men,  who  had  surely 
earned  by  a  life  of  hardship  and  exposure  an  immunity  from  such  calls, 
jumped  on  their  horses  and  rode  without  hesitation  and  without  pro- 
vision to  fight  for  their  independence. 

There  were,  however,  unfortunately,  matters  connected  with  the 
war  which  gave  birth  to  a  bitter  and  aching  desire  for  revenge.  Bronk- 
horst  Spruit  and  the  murder  of  Captain  Elliot  were  among  the  earliest. 
Another  was  the  shooting  of  Dr.  Barbour  (who  was  killed  instantly) 
and  Mr.  Walter  Dyas  (wounded)  by  their  escort  under  circumstances 
similar  to  those  of  the  Elliot  murder,  with  the  exception  that  in  this 
case  the  prisoners  had  been  released  on  foot  and  in  daylight,  and  were 
then  shot  down. 

But  there  were  others,  too.  There  was  the  murder  of  Green  in 
Lydenburg,  who  was  called  to  the  Boer  camp,  where  he  went  unarmed 
and  in  good  faith,  only  to  have  his  brains  blown  out  by  the  Boer  with 
whom  he  was  conversing;  there  was  the  public  flogging  of  another 
Englishman  by  the  notorious  Abel  Erasmus  because  he  was  an  English- 
man and  had  British  sympathies ;  and  there  were  the  various  white 
flag  incidents.  At  Ingogo  the  Boers  raised  the  white  flag,  and  when 
in  response  to  this  General  CoUey  ordered  the  hoisting  of  a  similar 
flag  to  indicate  that  it  was  seen,  a  perfect  hail  of  lead  was  poured  on 
the  position  where  the  General  stood ;  and  it  was  obvious  that  the 
hoisting  of  the  flag  was  merely  a  ruse  to  ascertain  where  the  General 
and  his  staff  were.  There  was  the  ambulance  affair  on  Majuba,  when 
the  Boers  came  upon  an  unarmed  party  bearing  the  wounded  with  the 
red  cross  flying  over  them,  and  after  asking  who  they  were  and  getting 
a  reply,  fired  a  volley  into  the  group,  killing  Surgeon-Major  Cornish. 
There  was  the  siege  of  Potchefstroom,  during  which  the  Boer  force 

3—2 


36  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

under  Commandant  Cronje  were  guilty  of  actions  contrary  to  the 
usages  of  civilized  warfare.  They  are  matters  of  history,  and  can 
easily  be  verified.  Keference  is  made  to  them  elsewhere  in  this 
volume  in  connection  with  Commandant  Cronje's  action  on  another 
occasion. 

And  80  the  war  left  the  coimtry,  as  wars  will,  divided  into  two 
parties,  with  feelings  towards  each  other  that  are  deplorable  enough  in 
themselves,  and  not  easily  allayed.  The  curtain  was  rung  down,  and 
the  scene  was  lost  to  the  view  of  the  world,  but  the  play  went  on  all 
the  same  behind  the  curtain.  And  this  is  what  the  new  Government 
said  to  the  world  on  August  8,  1881,  when  they  took  over  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  country : 

To  all  inhabitants,  without  exception,  we  promise  the  protection  of  the  law, 
and  all  the  privileges  attendant  thereon. 

To  inhabitants  who  arc  not  burghers,  and  do  not  wish  to  become  such,  we 
notify  that  they  have  the  right  to  report  themselves  to  the  Resident  as  British 
subjects,  according  to  Article  28  of  the  now  settled  Convention.  But  be  it 
known  to  all,  that  all  ordinary  rights  of  property,  trade,  and  usages,  will  still 
be  accorded  to  everyone,  burgher  or  not. 

We  repeat  solemnly  that  our  motto  is,  '  Unity  and  reconciliation.' 


CHAPTER  II 

AFTER     THE    WAR 

In  1882  Sir  Bartle  Frere  wrote,  '  I  have  never  been  able  to  discover 
any  principle  in  our  policy  m  South  Africa  except  that  of  giving  way 
whenever  any  difficulty  or  opposition  is  encountered.'  The  remark  is 
still  as  true  as  when  it  was  penned,  and  South  Africa — the  '  Grave  of 
Reputations,'  ^  as  it  has  long  been  called — must  by  this  time  be  regarded 
with  doubtful  emotions  by  successive  Colonial  Secretaries.  What  is  it 
about  South  Africa,  one  asks,  that  has  upset  so  many  men  of  capacity 
and  experience  ?  Who  can  say  ?  Often — most  often — it  is  the  neglect 
to  thoroughly  study  and  know  what  are  called  the  'local  conditions,' 
and  to  pay  due  heed  to  local  experience.  Sometimes  it  is  the  sub- 
ordination of  State  pohcy  to  party  considerations  which  has  ruined  the 
Proconsul:  witness  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  whose  decisive  action,  firm 
character,  and  wise  and  statesmanlike  poHcy  are  now — now  that  he  is 
dead  —  recognised  universally,  as  they  have  always  been  in  South 
Africa.  Perhaps  there  is  something  in  Africa  itself  which  makes  it  a 
huge  exception  to  the  rules  of  other  lands ;  the  something  which  is 

^  Among  the  first  notes  which  poor  CoUey — brave,  wise,  generous,   and 
unlucky — wrote  after  taking  office,  was  one  containing  these  words  :  *  Whether 
I  .  .  .  shall  find  that  South  Africa  is  to  me,  as  it  is  said  to  be  in  general, 
'  the  grave  of  all  good  reputations,"  remains  to  be  seen,' 


r  ■  ■■  ■■- 


AFTER  THE  WAR  37 

suggested  in  the  '  rivers  without  water,  flowers  without  scent,  and  birds 
without  song ' ;  a  contrariness  which  puts  the  alluvial  gold  on  the  top 
of  mountain  ranges  and  leaves  the  valleys  barren  ;  which  mocked  the 
experience  of  the  world,  and  showed  the  waterworn  gravel  deposit  to 
be  the  biggest,  richest,  deepest,  and  most  reliable  gold  reef  ever  known ; 
which  placed  diamonds  in  such  conditions  that  the  greatest  living 
authority,  who  had  undertaken  a  huge  journey  to  report  on  the 
occurrence,  could  only  say,  in  the  face  of  a  successful  wash-up,  '  Well, 
there  may  be  diamonds  here,  but  all  I  can  say  is  they've  no  right  to 
be ' ;  the  something  which  many,  many  centuries  ago  prompted  the 
old  Eoman  to  write,  'Ex  Africa  semper  aliquid  novi  affert,'  and  which 
is  in  the  mind  of  the  South  African  to-day  when  he  says,  '  The  impos- 
sible is  always  happening  in  Africa.' 

There  is  this  to  be  said  for  the  Gladstone  Ministry  in  1881 :  That, 
having  decided  on  a  policy  of  scuttle  and  abandonment,  they  did  it 
thoroughly,  as  though  they  enjoyed  it.  A  feeble  vote-catching  pro- 
vision, with  no  security  attached,  was  inserted  in  the  Pretoria  Conven- 
tion relative  to  the  treatment  of  natives,  but  no  thought  or  care  was 
given  to  the  unfortunate  British  subject  who  happened  to  be  a  white 
man,  and  to  have  fought  for  his  Queen  and  country.^  The  abandon- 
ment was  complete,  without  scruple,  without  shame.  It  has  been 
written  that  '  the  care  and  forethought  which  would  be  lavished  on  a 
favourite  horse  or  dog  on  changing  masters  were  denied  to  British 
subjects  by  the  British  Government.'  The  intensity  and  bitterness  of 
the  resentment,  the  wrath  and  hatred — so  much  deeper  because  so 
impotent— at  the  betrayal  and  desertion  have  left  their  traces  on  South 
^African  feeling  ;  and  the  opinion  of  the  might  and  honour  of  England 
as  it  may  be  gleaned  in  many  parts  of  the  Colonies  as  well  as  every- 
where in  the  EepubUcs,  would  be  an  unpleasant  revelation  to  those 
who  live  in  undisturbed  portions  of  the  Empire,  comfortable  in  the 
belief  that  to  be  a  British  subject  carries  the  old-time  magic  of  '  Civis 
Eomanus  sum.' 

The  Transvaal  State,  as  it  was  now  to  be  called,  was  re-established 
having  had  its  trade  restored,  its  enemies  crushed— for  Secocoeni  and 
Cetewayo  were  both  defeated  and  broken — and  its  debts  paid  or  con- 
solidated in  the  form  of  a  debt  to  England,  repayable  when  possible. 
For  some  time  not  even  the  interest  on  this  debt  was  paid. 

Numbers  of  British  subjects  left  the  country  in  disgust  and  despair. 

Ruined  in  pocket  and  broken  in  spirit,  they  took  what  little  they  could 

realize  of  their  once  considerable  possessions,  and  left  the  country 

where  they  could  no  longer  live  and  enjoy  the  rights  of  free  men.     For 

some  years  the  life  of  a  Britisher  among  the  Boers  was  far  from  happy. 

|Tt  is  not  surprising — indeed,  not  unnatural — that  people  unsoftened  by 

;  education  and  the   conditions   of  civilization,  moved  by  fierce  race 

1  See  Appendix  A  for  the  fiiM  text  of  the  Pretoria  Convention. 


38  THE  TRAKSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

prejudice,  and  intoxicated  by  unbroken  and  unexpected  success,  should 
in  many  cases  make  the  vanquished  feel  the  conqueror's  heel.  The 
position  of  men  of  British  name  or  sympathies  in  the  country  districts 
was  very  serious,  and  the  injustice  done  to  those  who  had  settled  since 
the  annexation,  believing  that  they  were  to  live  under  the  laws  and 
protection  of  their  own  Government,  was  grave  indeed. 

The  Government  of  the  country  was  vested  in  a  Triumvirate  with 
Mr.  Stephanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger  as  Vice-President  during  the 
period  immediately  following  the  war  ;  but  in  1882  the  old  form  was 
restored  and  Mr.  Kruger  was  elected  President,  an  of&ce  which  he  is 
now  holding  for  the  third  successive  term.i 

Prior  to  the  war  the  population  of  the  country  was  reckoned  by  both 
Dutch  and  English  authorities  to  be  about  40,000  souls,  the  great 
majority  of  whom  were  Dutch.  The  memorial  addressed  to  Lord 
Carnarvon,  dated  January  7, 1878,  praying  for  repeal  of  the  annexation, 
was  *  signed  by  6,591  qualified  electors  out  of  a  possible  8,000,'  as  is 
explained  in  the  letter  of  the  Transvaal  delegates  to  Sir  M.  Hicks-Beach 
dated  July  10,  1878.  The  fact,  already  mentioned,  that  3,000  electors 
had  petitioned  for  the  annexation  only  means  that  some  of  them 
changed  their  minds  under  pressure  or  conviction,  and  helped  to  swell 
the  number  of  those  who  later  on  petitioned  for  repeal.  The  signatories 
to  the  above  memorial  would  include  practically  all  the  Dutch  electors 
in  the  country,  and  the  remaining  1,400  or  so  would  probably  be  the 
non-Boer  party  who  preferred  British  rule,  and  could  not  be  coerced 
into  signing  memorials  against  it.  These  figures  are  useful  as  a  check 
upon  those  now  put  forward  by  the  Transvaal  Government  to  combat 
the  assertion  that  the  Uitlanders  outnumber  the  Boers.  Kecognizing 
the  fact  that  the  Boers  are  a  singularly  domestic  and  prolific  people, 
one  may  allow  that  they  numbered  35,000  out  of  the  total  population, 
an  estimate  that  will  be  seen  to  be  extremely  liberal.  At  the  time  that 
the  above  figures  were  quoted  by  the  Transvaal  delegates,  every  Boer 
youth  over  the  age  of  twenty-one  was  a  qualified  voter,  so  that  it  would 
seem  that  the  qualified  Boer  voter  had  an  average  of  one  wife  and 
4'3  children,  a  fair  enough  allowance  in  all  conscience.  These  figures 
should  be  borne  in  mind,  for  the  present  Boer  population  consists  of  what 
remains  of  these  35,000  souls  and  their  natural  increase  during  eighteen 
years.  There  are  other  Dutch  immigrants  from  the  Cape  Colony  and 
Free  State  :  these  are  aliens,  who  have  the  invaluable  qualification  of 
hating  England  and  her  sons  and  her  ways  and  her  works ;  but,  as  will 
be  made  clear  when  the  Franchise  Law  is  explained,  the  present  Boer 
electorate  consists — or,  without  fraud  or  favouritism,  should  consist — 
of  the  '  possible  8,000 '  and  their  sons. 

Many  a  champion  of  liberty  has  lived  to  earn  the  stigma  of  tyrant, 
and  the  Boers,  who  in  1835  had  trekked  for  liberty  and  freedom  from 
^  In  February,  1898,  he  was  elected  for  the  fourth  time. 


1 


AFTER  THE  WAR  39 

oppressive  rule,  and  who  had  fought  for  it  in  1880,  began  now  them- 
selves to  put  in  force  the  principles  which  they  had  so  stoutly  resisted. 
In  the  Volksraad  Session  of  1882  the  first  of  the  measures  of  exclusion 
was  passed.  The  Franchise,  which  until  then — in  accordance  with 
Law  No.  1  of  1876— had  been  granted  to  anyone  holding  property  or 
residing  in  the  State,  or,  failing  the  property  qualification,  to  anyone 
who  had  qualified  by  one  year's  residence,  was  now  altered,  and  Law 
No.  7  of  1882  was  passed,  which  provided  that  aliens  could  become 
naturalized  and  enfranchised  after  five  years'  residence,  thus  attaining 
the  status  of  the  oldest  Voortrekker.  The  feeling  was  now  very  strong 
against  the  Annexation  Party,  as  they  had  been  called,  that  is  to  say, 
the  men  who  had  had  the  courage  of  their  convictions,  and  had  openly 
advocated  annexation ;  and  as  usual  the  bitterest  persecutors  and  vilifiers 
were  found  in  the  ranks  of  those  who,  having  secretly  supported  them 
before,  had  become  suspect,  and  had  now  need  to  prove  their  loyalty 
by  their  zeal.  The  intention  was  avowed  to  keep  the  party  pure  and 
undiluted,  as  it  was  maintained  by  many  of  the  Boers  that  former 
proselytes  had  used  their  newly-acquired  privileges  to  vote  away  the 
independence  of  the  country.  The  view  was  not  unnatural  under  the 
circumstances,  and  this  measure,  had  it  not  been  a  violation  of  pledges, 
might  have  found  defenders  among  impartial  persons ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, it  proved  to  be  not  so  much  a  stringently  defensive  measure 
which  time  and  circumstances  might  induce  them  to  modify,  as  the 
first  step  in  a  policy  of  absolute  and  perpetual  exclusion.  It  was  the 
first  deliberate  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the  settlement,  and,  although 
there  is  no  clause  in  the  Pretoria  Convention  which  it  can  be  said  ta 
contravene,  it  was,  as  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  since  styled  it,  *  a  violation 
of  the  status  quo  as  it  was  present  to  the  minds  of  her  Majesty's 
Ministers  at  the  time  the  Convention  was  negotiated.'  But  the 
Gladstone  Ministry,  which  had  paid  so  heavily  to  get  rid  of  the 
Transvaal  question,  was  certainly  not  going  to  reopen  it  for  the  sake  of 
holding  the  Boers  to  the  spirit  of  the  settlement. 

Another  precaution  was  taken  to  keep  all  the  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  Boers.  The  various  towns  which  had  formerly  been  entitled  to 
representation  in  Parliament  were  deprived  of  this  right,  and  have 
remained  disfranchised  ever  since  Mr.  Kruger  feared  that  the  en- 
lightened thought  of  the  towns  would  hinder  the  growth  of  his 
'  national  policy.' 

It  was  not  too  late  even  at  this  time  to  have  bloodlessly  settled  the 
Transvaal  question  for  ever  by  a  fair  but  thoroughly  firm  attitude 
towards  the  restored  Republic.  No  doubt  British  Ministers,  conscious 
of  an  act  of  supreme  self-restraint  and  magnanimity,  believed  that 
some  reciprocal  justice  would  be  evoked.  At  any  rate,  it  is  possible 
that  this  was  the  reason  which  guided  them,  and  not  continued  callous 
indifference  to  the  fate  of  British  subjects  and  the  future  of   South 


40  THE  TRANSVAAL  FR,OM  WITHIK 

Africa.  In  such  case,  however,  they  must  have  forgotten  '  the  fault  of 
the  Dutch ' — which  Andrew  Marvell's  couplet  has  recorded — of  '  giving 
too  little  and  asking  too  much.'  The  Transvaal  Boers  are  very 
practical  people,  and  no  matter  what  they  may  receive  or  how  they  get 
it,  whether  by  way  of  diplomacy  or  barter  or  the  accident  of  good  luck 
or  deed  of  gift,  they  never  neglect  to  press  and  scheme  for  more.  It  is 
an  unpleasant  feature  in  the  Boer  character,  prominent  alike  in  personal 
and  general  relations,  begotten,  mayhap,  of  hard  life,  constant  struggle, 
and  lack  of  education  and  its  softening  and  elevating  influence.  It  is 
a  feature  which  is  common  to  aU  uneducated  peoples  who  have 
suffered  great  hardships,  and  it  will  no  doubt  disappear  in  time  ;  but  it 
is  one  which  has  to  be  reckoned  with  at  the  present  day,  and  one  which, 
when  recognized  at  its  true  value,  sustains  the  contention  that  the 
Boers,  in  dealing  with  those  whom  they  regard  as  not  of  them,  will 
recognize  no  right  and  do  no  justice  imless  compelled  to  do  so.  The 
considerations  of  a  narrow  and  selfish  poUcy  are  stronger  than  the 
sense  of  right  and  wrong. 

British  Ministers  and  the  British  people  when  glowing  with  a  mildly 
enthusiastic  satisfaction  at  their  tolerant  and  even  generous  atiitude 
towards  a  weaker  opponent  may  imagine  that  they  have  sown  good 
seed  which  in  time  will  bear  ample  fruit ;  but  it  is  not  so.  Nothing 
but  firmness  and  strict  justice  will  avert  a  bloody  day  of  reckoning. 
Nothing  but  prompt  and  effective  veto  on  every  attempt  to  break  or 
stretch  the  spirit  of  past  undertakings  will  bring  it  home  to  the 
Transvaal  Government  that  all  the  give  cannot  be  on  the  one  side  and 
all  the  take  on  the  other;  that  they  cannot  trade  for  ever  on  the 
embarrassment  of  a  big  Power  in  dealing  with  a  little  one  ;  and  that 
they  must  comport  themselves  with  due  regard  to  their  responsibilities. 

Almost  the  first  use  made  by  the  Transvaal  Government  of  their 
recovered  power  was  one  which  has  wrought  much  mischief  to  the 
State.  The  Triumvirate  who  ruled  the  country  in  1882  granted 
numbers  of  concessions,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  opening  up 
industries  or  developing  mining  areas.  The  real  reasons  are  generally 
considered  to  have  been  personal,  and  the  result  was  the  crushing  of 
budding  activities,  and  the  severe  discouragement  of  those  who  were 
willing  to  expend  capital  and  energies  in  legitimate  work.  Favouritism 
pure  and  simple  dictated  these  grants.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say 
that  the  system  and  spirit  then  introduced  rule  to  this  day,  for  although 
the  Volksraad  has  taken  definite  resolution  condemning  the  principle 
of  monopolies  and  contracts  conferring  preferential  rights  of  any  sort, 
the  spirit  of  this  resolution  is  violated  whenever  the  President  and 
Executive  deem  it  fit  to  do  so — witness,  for  instance,  the  monopoly 
granted  in  December,  1895,  for  the  free  importation  of  produce,  which 
is  disguised  as  a  Government  agency  with  a  *  commission  '  to  the 
agent ;  but  it  is  really  a  monopoly  and  nothing  else  ! 


AFTER  THE  WAR  41 

The  Boers  were  not  satisfied  with  the  Convention  of  1881.  They 
desired  the  removal  of  the  Suzerainty,  the  cancellation  of  the  clauses 
referring  to  natives,  and  the  restoration  of  the  title  of  the  South 
African  Republic  in  lieu  of  that  of  the  Transvaal  State.  They  also 
desired  (but  did  not  expect  to  obtain)  complete  freedom  in  regard  to 
their  external  relations,  and  they  lost  no  time  in  trying  how  far  they 
would  be  allowed  to  go  in  the  direction  of  stretching  the  spirit  of  the 
Convention.  Nothing  in  that  ineffectual  and  miserable  document  is 
clearer  than  the  definition  of  certain  boundaries,  and  the  provision  that 
no  extension  shall  be  allowed.  This  hemming  of  them  in — or  shutting 
them  up  in  a  kraal,  as  President  Kruger  has  expressively  put  it— was 
intensely  repugnant  to  them.  It  cut  into  one  of  the  most  deeply- 
rooted  habits  of  the  Boer.  His  method  of  trek  and  expansion  has 
been — to  begin  by  making  small  hunting  excursions  into  adjacent 
native  territories,  to  foUow  up  with  grazing  his  cattle  there  until  he 
created  in  his  own  mind  a  right  by  prescription,  and  then  to  establish 
it  either  by  force  or  else  by  written  agreement,  too  often  imperfectly 
translated.  This  was  oftentimes  varied  or  supplemented  by  helping 
the  weaker  of  two  rival  chiefs,  and  so  demolishing  the  power  of  a  tribe. 
The  expulsion  of  the  native  followed  as  a  natural  result. 

In  the  Transvaal  itself  there  was,  and  still  is,  an  immense  quantity 
of  unoccupied  land,  and  the  Boers  were  quite  unable  to  properly 
control,  utilize,  and  administer  their  own  immense  territory,  but  '  land 
hunger '  is  theirs  as  a  birth  curse.  The  individual  cannot  bear  to  see 
the  smoke  of  his  neighbour's  chimney ;  he  will  not  cultivate  50  acres, 
but  wants  50,000 ;  the  '  nation  '  wants  Africa — no  less.  They  coveted 
Swaziland,  Zululand,  Bechuanaland,  Matabeleland,  Mashonaland,  and 
Tongaland,  and  set  to  work  by  devious  methods  to  establish  claims  to 
these  countries. 

In  Bechuanaland  they  took  sides ;  that  is  to  say,  parties  of  free- 
booters from  the  Transvaal  took  up  the  cause  of  certain  native  chiefs 
against  certain  others.  The  London  Convention  in  1884  disposed  of 
this  quarrel  by  fixing  the  south-western  boundaries  of  the  Repubhc, 
and  placing  two  of  the  disputing  chiefs  under  the  Transvaal,  and  the 
other  two  under  British  protection.  Notwithstanding  this,  however, 
the  new  Convention  was  no  sooner  signed  than  the  scheming  was 
resumed,  and  before  a  year  had  passed  a  party  of  Transvaal  Boers, 
several  of  them  now  holding  high  official  positions  under  the  Republic, 
raided  the  territory  of  the  chiefs  in  the  British  Protectorate,  and  even 
attacked  the  chief  town,  Mafeking.  This  was  followed  by  a  proclama- 
tion by  President  Kruger  placing  the  territory  under  the  protection  of 
the  Republic.  Mr.  Rhodes,  who  had  already  made  himself  conspicuous 
by  his  advocacy  of  holding  the  highway  to  the  interior  open,  was 
instrumental  in  inducing  the  Imperial  Government  to  make  a  deter- 
mined   stand   against    this.     An   ultimatum    moved    the   Transvaal 


42  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Government  to  withdraw  the  proclamation  and  forced  the  Boers  to 
leave  the  country — only,  however,  when  and  because  the  demand  was 
backed  by  the  Warren  expedition  at  a  cost  of  over  a  million  and  a  half 
to  the  British  taxpayer  1  This  expedition  was  sent  by  Mr.  Gladstone, 
the  Boer  benefactor — notwithstanding  all  his  anxiety  to  prove  the 
Transvaal  settlement  a  good  one  I  The  action  of  the  Transvaal,  and  the 
most  brutal  murder  of  Mr.  Bethell  by  the  individuals  above  referred  to 
as  holding  high  official  positions  under  the  Kepublic,  gave  indications 
of  the  bent  of  the  Boer  authorities  which  people  in  South  Africa  did 
not  fail  to  take  note  of.  Bethell  had  been  wounded  in  the  invasion 
of  the  territory  by  the  Boers,  and  as  he  lay  helpless  the  '  prominent 
Transvaal  official '  came  up  and,  seeing  a  repeating  rifle  lying  beside 
him,  asked  him  to  show  them  how  it  worked.  He  did  so,  and  the 
'  prominent  official '  taking  it  up  under  pretext  of  examining  it  shot 
Bethell  dead  with  his  own  weapon. 

In  Zululand  similar  tactics  were  resorted  to  by  the  Kepublic. 
Transvaal  Boers  invaded  Zululand  and  (1884)  took  up  the  cause  of 
Dinizulu,  a  son  of  the  dead  Cetewayo,  and  established  him  as  king, 
upsetting  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley's  settlement.  They  then  proceeded  to 
seize  the  country,  but  the  British  Government  intervening  at  this  point, 
rescued  some  two-thirds  for  the  Zulus.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show 
that  the  intention  of  the  Boers  was  to  get  to  the  sea,  and  also  that 
the  unlucky  Zulus,  who  had  been  broken  by  the  British  Government — 
and  very  rightly  too — because  they  were  a  menace  to  the  Transvaal, 
even  more  than  to  Natal,  were  now  deprived  of  the  pick  of  their 
country,  plundered  and  harried  by  the  very  people  who  had  been  at 
their  mercy  until  the  Imperial  Government  stepped  in.  It  is  very 
noteworthy  that,  with  the  splendid  exception  of  the  lion-hearted  Piet 
Uys  and  his  sons,  who  fought  and  died  (father  and  one  son)  in  the 
Zulu  war  side  by  side  with  the  Britishers  whom  he  was  keenly  opposing 
on  the  annexation  question,  none  of  the  Boers  came  forward  to  help 
in  the  Secocoeni  or  Zulu  wars,  although  these  wars  were  undertaken, 
the  one  entirely,  and  the  other  mainly,  on  their  account.  But  a  great 
many  were  ready  to  raid  and  annex  as  soon  as  the  Zulu  power  was 
broken. 

Swaziland  became  in  turn  the  object  of  the  Boer  Government's 
attentions.  First,  grazing  concessions  were  obtained ;  and  next,  other 
concessions  for  the  collection  of  Customs  and  Revenue  dues,  for  tele- 
graphs, railways,  banking,  surveying,  and  goodness  only  knows  what. 
One  individual  applied  for  and  obtained  a  concession  for  the  balance 
of  ungranted  concessions,  and  another  applied  for  a  grant  of  the  Chief 
Justiceship.  What  chance  the  unfortunate  native  had  in  such  a  con- 
dition of  things  can  be  imagined.  The  Transvaal  bought  up  all  the 
concessions  necessary  to  make  government  of  the  country  absolutely 
impossible,  except  with  their  co-operation.     The  secret  service  fund  of 


AFTER  THE  WAR  43 

the  Republic  provided  means  for  making  the  representatives  of  the 
Swazi  nation  see  things  in  a  reasonable  light,  so  that  when  the  time 
came  to  investigate  the  title  to  concessions  and  to  arrange  for  the 
future  administration  of  the  country  the  result  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. The  judge  appointed  by  the  Imperial  Government  on  the 
Special  Joint  Commission  to  inquire  into  the  concessions  and  matters 
in  general  let  some  light  on  the  manner  in  which  these  concessions 
were  acquired  and  granted,  by  pertinent  questions  to  the  concessionaires 
and  interpreters.  He  asked,  for  instance,  '  Do  you  swear  that  you 
interpreted  this  document  verbatim  to  the  king  ?' — *  Yes.'  '  Will  you 
kindly  tell  to  the  Court  what  is  the  Kaffir  for  "  ad  valorem  duties  " 
and  "  et  cetera,  et  cetera,  et  cetera,"  or  how  you  interpreted  and 
explained  the  significance  of  the  "  survey,"  "  mint,"  "  revenue,"  and 
"  township  "  concessions  ?' 

The  picture  of  the  obese  and  drunken  chief  surrounded  by  fawning 
harpies  was  a  shameful  and  disgusting  one.  One  example  is  sufiicient 
to  show  how  the  thing  was  done.  A  concession  for  gambling  was 
applied  for.  The  man  who  interpreted  knew  a  smattering  of  *  kitchen  ' 
Kaffir,  and  his  rendering  of  the  '  monopoly  for  billiards,  card  playing, 
lotteries,  and  games  of  chance '  was  that  he  alone  should  be  allowed  to 
'  tcliia  ma-hall  (hit  the  balls).  Mala  ma-jpaper  (play  the  papers),  and 
tata  zonki  mali  (and  take  all  the  money).'  The  poor  drunken  king 
nodded  sleepily  to  the  first  two  clauses,  but  to  the  bald  proposition  of 
taking  all  the  money,  which  he  could  understand,  he  violently  objected. 
The  concession  was,  however,  subsequently  granted  on  the  representa- 
tions of  a  more  tactful  interpreter. 

A  very  flagrant  breach  of  the  spirit  of  the  London  Convention,  and  a 
\ery  daring  attempt  at  land-grabbing,  was  the  proposed  last  will  and 
testament  of  the  Swazi  King  Umbandine,  which  provided  that  the 
governing  powers  should  be  assigned  to  Mr.  Kruger  as  executor  of  the 
King  and  trustee  and  administrator  of  the  country.  His  project  was 
defeated ;  but  the  aim  of  the  Boer  Government  was  ultimately  achieved, 
nevertheless,  and  Swaziland  has  now  been  handed  over  to  the  control 
of  the  Republic  in  spite  of  the  prayers  and  protestations  of  the  Swazis 
themselves,  who  had  proved  in  the  past  with  very  practical  results  to 
be  useful,  ready  and  loyal  allies  of  the  British  Government. 

While  Swaziland  was  being  entoiled  the  Transvaal  Government 
were  not  idle  elsewhere.  Matabeleland  was  looked  upon  as  the  heritage 
of  the  Boer,  because  of  the  '  old  friendship '  with  the  Matabele — whom 
they  had  driven  out  of  their  country,  now  the  Transvaal ;  and  Mashona- 
land  was  theirs  because  it  was  their  ancient  hunting-ground.  That  the 
Boers  did  not  abandon  their  old  schemes  merely  because  they  had 
agreed  by  treaty  to  do  so  is  shown  by  a  letter  which  was  found  at  Lo 
Bengula's  kraal  by  Mr.  F.  Thompson  when  he  went  up  to  negotiate  for 
Mr.  Rhodes.      The  stealthy  grovelhng  of  the   Commandant-General 


44  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

before  a  savage  native  chief,  the  iinctuous  phraseology,  the  hypo- 
critical assurances  of  an  undying  friendship  between  Boer  and  Matabele 
so  long  as  there  are  living  one  of  each  race,  throw  a  lurid  light  upon 
the  conduct  of  Boer  diplomacy  with  native  tribes,  and  explain  much  of 
the  ineradicable  fear  and  distrust  which  are  felt  on  the  native  side  in 
all  dealings  with  the  aggressive  Boer.     The  letter  reads  : 

Marico, 
The  South  African  Republic, 

March  9,  1882. 

To  the  Great  Rider  the  Chief  Lo  Bengnla,  the  smi  of  Umzilikatse,  tlu  great 
King  of  the  Matahili  Nation. 

Great  Ruler, 

When  this  letter  reaches  yon,  then  you  will  know  that  it  comes  from 
a  man  who  very  much  desires  to  visit  you,  but  who,  being  a  man  of  the 
people,  cannot  get  loose  to  make  such  a  long  journey.  Therefore  he  must 
now  be  satisfied  with  writing  a  letter  to  carry  his  regards  to  the  son  of  the 
late  King  of  the  Matabele,  our  old  friend  Umzilikatse.  When  I  say  that  I 
desire  to  see  you,  it  is  not  to  ask  for  anything,  but  to  talk  of  something,  and 
to  tell  Lo  Bengula  of  the  affairs  and  things  of  the  world,  because  I  know 
that  there  are  many  people  who  talk  and  tell  about  these  matters,  whilst 
there  are  but  few  who  tell  the  tmth.  Now,  when  a  man  hears  a  thing 
wrong,  it  is  worse  than  if  he  had  never  heard  it  at  all.  Now,  I  know  that 
Lo  Bengula  has  heard  some  things  wrongly,  and  for  this  reason  would  I  tell 
him  the  real  truth.  Now,  you  must  have  heard  that  the  English — or,  as 
they  are  better  known,  the  Englishmen — took  away  our  country,  the  Trans- 
vaal, or,  as  they  say,  annexed  it.  We  then  talked  nicely  for  four  years,  and 
begged  for  our  country.  But  no  ;  when  an  Englishman  once  has  your 
property  in  his  hand,  then  he  is  like  a  monkey  that  has  its  hands  full  of 
pumpkin -seeds — if  you  don't  beat  him  to  death  he  will  never  let  go — and 
then  all  our  nice  talk  for  four  years  did  not  help  us  at  all.  Then  the  English 
commenced  to  arrest  us  because  we  were  dissatisfied,  and  that  caused  the 
shooting  and  fighting.  Then  the  English  first  found  that  it  would  be  better 
to  give  us  back  our  country.  Now  they  are  gone,  and  our  country  is  free, 
and  we  will  now  once  more  live  in  friendship  with  Lo  Bengula,  as  we  lived 
in  friendship  with  Umzilikatse,  and  such  must  be  our  friendship,  that  so 
long  as  there  is  one  Boer  and  one  Matabele  living,  these  two  must  remain 
friends.  On  this  account  do  I  wish  to  see  Lo  Bengula,  and  if  I  may  live  so 
long,  and  the  country  here  become  altogether  settled,  and  the  stink  which  the 
English  brought  is  first  blown  away  altogether,  then  I  will  still  ride  so  far  to 
reach  Lo  Bengula,  and  if  he  still  has  this  letter,  then  he  will  hear  the  words 
from  the  mouth  of  the  man  who  now  must  speak  with  the  pen  upon  paper, 
and  who,  therefore,  cannot  so  easily  tell  him  everything.  The  man  is  a 
brother's  child  of  the  three  brothers  that  formerly — now  thirty-two  years 
ago — were  at  Urazilikatse's,  and  then  made  the  peace  with  him  which  holds 
to  this  day.  He  still  remembers  well  when  the  first  Boers,  Franz  Joubert, 
Jann  Joubert,  and  Pieter  Joubert,  came  there,  and  Avhen  they  made  the 
peace  whereby  Umzilikatse  could  live  at  peace  and  the  Boors  also,  and  the 
peace  which  is  so  strong  that  the  vile  evil-doers  were  never  able  to  destroy  it, 
and  never  shall  be  able  to  destroy  it  as  long  as  there  shall  be  one  Boer  that 
lives  and  Lo  Bengida  also  lives. 

Now  I  wish  to  send  something  to  give  Lo  Bengula  a  present  as  a  token  of 
our  friendship.     I  send  for  Lo  Bengula  Avith  the  gentleman  who  will  bring 


AFTER  THE  WAR  45 

him  this  letter  a  blanket  and  a  handkerchief  for  his  great  wife,  who  is  the 
mother  of  all  the  Matabele  nation.  I  will  one  day  come  to  see  their  friend- 
ship. The  gentleman  who  brings  the  letter  will  tell  you  about  all  the  work 
which  I  have  to  do  here.  Some  bad  people  have  incited  Kolahing,  and  so  he 
thought  he  would  make  fortifications  and  light  with  us,  but  he  got  fright- 
ened, and  saw  that  he  would  be  killed,  therefore  I  made  him  break  down  the 
fortifications  and  pack  all  the  stones  in  one  heap,  and  he  had  then  to  pay 
5,000  cattle  and  4,000  sheep  and  goats  for  his  wickedness.  Now  there  is 
another  chief,  Gatsizibe — he  came  upon  our  land  and  killed  three  people  and 
plundered  them — he  must  also  pay  a  fine,  or  else  we  will  punish  him  or 
shoot  him,  because  we  will  have  peace  in  our  country.  Now  greetings,  great 
Chief  Lo  Bengula,  from  the  Commandant-General  of  the  South  African 
Republic  for  the  Government  and  Administration. 

P.    J.    JOUBERT. 

A  big  trek  (the  Banjailand  trek)  was  organized  in  1890  and  1891  by 
General  Joubert  and  his  relatives  and  supporters  to  occupy  a  portion 
of  the  territory  already  proclaimed  as  under  British  protection  and  the 
administration  of  the  Chartered  Company.  The  trekkers  were  turned 
back  at  Ehodes's  Drift,  stopped  by  the  firmness  and  courage  and  tact 
of  Dr.  Jameson,  who  met  them  alone  and  unarmed  ;  and  also  by  the 
proclamation  of  President  Kj-uger,  to  whom  it  had  been  plainly  inti- 
mated that  the  invasion  would  be  forcibly  resisted  and  would  inevitably 
provoke  war.  The  matter  had  gone  so  far  that  the  offices  of  the 
Republic  of  Banjai  had  already  been  allotted.  The  President's  pro- 
clamation, instead  of  being  regarded  as  the  barest  fulfilment  of  his 
obligations — very  grudgingly  done  under  pressure  of  threats — was 
vaunted  as  an  act  of  supreme  magnanimity  and  generosity,  and  was 
used  in  the  bargaining  for  the  cession  of  Swaziland. 

In  Tongaland  Boer  emissaries  were  not  idle ;  but  they  failed,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  Tonga  Queen  Eegent,  Zambili,  a  really  fine  speci- 
men of  the  savage  ruler,  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  Power  but 
England,  whose  suzerainty  she  accepted  in  1887.  Being  shut  off  here, 
the  Boer  Government  made  another  bid  for  seaward  extension,  and, 
through  their  emissaries,  obtained  certain  rights  from  two  petty  chiefs, 
Zambaan  and  Umbegesa,  whom  they  represented  as  independent  kings  ; 
but  Lord  Rosebery  annexed  their  territories  in  1894,  and  so  put  a  final 
stop  to  the  Transvaal  schemes  to  evade  the  Convention  by  intrigue  with 
neighbouring  native  tribes. 

Nothing  can  better  illustrate  the  Boers'  deliberate  evasion  of  their 
treaty  obligations  than  their  conduct  in  these  matters.  The  Pretoria 
Convention  defined  the  Transvaal  boundaries  and  acknowledged  the 
independence  of  the  Swazis,  and  yet  the  British  Government's  delay  in 
consenting  to  the  annexation  of  Swaziland  by  the  Republic  was  re- 
garded for  years  as  an  intolerable  grievance,  and  was  proclaimed  as 
such  so  insistently  that  nearly  all  South  Africa  came  at  last  to  so 
regard  it. 

The  Boers'    consent   to   the   Chartered    Company's   occupation   of 


46  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Mashonaland  was  looked  upon  as  something  calling  for  a  quid  x>fo  quo, 
and  the  annexation  of  Zambaan's  land  is  now  regarded  as  an  infamous 
act  of  piracy  by  England,  and  an  infringement  of  the  Eepublic's  rights, 
which  the  Dutch  papers  denounce  most  vehemently.  The  Boer 
Government  made  it  clear,  not  less  in  their  purely  internal  policy  than 
in  these  matters  of  extensions  of  territory,  that  they  intended  pursuing 
a  line  of  their  own. 

In  1882,  the  property  known  as  '  Moodies,'  consisting  of  a  number 
of  farms  bearing  indications  of  gold,  was  thrown  open  to  prospectors. 
The  farms  had  been  allotted  to  Mr.  G.  Piggott  Moodie  when  he  was 
Surveyor-General,  in  lieu  of  salary  which  the  Eepublic  was  unable  to 
pay.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  prospecting  era  which  opened  up 
De  Kaap,  Witwatersrand,  and  other  fields ;  but  it  was  a  small  begin- 
ning, and  for  some  time  nothing  worth  mentioning  was  discovered. 
The  Eepublic  was  again  in  a  bad  way,  and  drifting  backwards  after  its 
first  spurt.  The  greatest  uncertainty  prevailed  amongst  prospectors  as 
to  their  titles,  for  in  Lydenburg,  at  Pilgrim's  Eest,  and  on  the  Devil's 
Kantoor,  concessions  had  been  granted  over  the  heads  of  the  miners  at 
work  on  their  claims,  and  they  had  been  turned  ofi'  for  the  benefit  of 
men  who  contributed  in  no  way  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the 
State.  It  has  been  stated  in  the  Volksraad  that  not  one  of  those  con- 
cessionaires has  even  paid  the  dues  and  rents,  or  complied  with  the 
other  conditions  stipulated  in  the  contracts.  Many  of  the  miners  left 
the  country  in  disgust.  The  Lydenburg  district  was  practically  locked 
up  for  fourteen  years  owing  to  the  concession  policy,  and  has  only  lately 
been  partly  released  from  the  bonds  of  monopoly. 

In  1884  Messrs.  Kruger  and  Smit  proceeded  to  Europe  to  endeavour 
to  raise  funds,  which  were  badly  needed,  and  also  to  obtain  some 
modifications  of  the  Convention.  The  attempt  to  raise  funds  through 
the  parties  in  Holland  to  whom  the  railway  concession  had  just  been 
granted  failed,  but  the  delegates  were  more  fortunate  in  their  other 
negotiations.  They  negotiated  the  London  Convention  which  fixed 
certain  hitherto  undefined  boundaries ;  and  in  that  document  no 
reference  was  made  to  the  suzerainty  of  Great  Britain.  They  also 
secured  the  consent  of  the  British  Government  to  the  alteration  of  the 
title  of  the  country.  Instead  of  Transvaal  State  it  became  once  more 
the  '  South  African  Eepubhc'  ^    During  this  visit  there  occurred  an 

1  For  full  text  of  London  Convention,  see  Appendix  B  (July,  1899).  A 
very  extensive  correspondence  has  passed  on  the  subject  of  the  suzerainty. 
The  Transvaal  Government  now  construe  the  omission  of  the  Preamble  to  the 
1881  Convention  as  the  result  of  an  agreement  to  abolish  the  suzerainty. 
Mr.  Chamberlain  points  out  that  the  London  Convention  contains  specific 
and  not  implied  amendments  of  the  Pretoria  Convention  ;  that  the  direct 
request  for  abolition  of  the  suzerainty  was  refused  by  Lord  Derby  ;  that  the 
preamble  as  the  fundamental  declaration  must  be  deemed  to  be  in  force  ;  and 
that  if  not,  the  same  reason  which  is  adduced  against  the  continued  existence 


AFTER  THE  WAR  47 

incident  which  provides  the  answer  to  Mr.  Kruger's  oft — too  oft — 
repeated  remark  that  '  the  Uitlanders  were  never  asked  to  settle  in  the 
Transvaal,  and  are  not  wanted  there.'  Messrs.  Kruger  and  Smit  were 
staying  at  the  Albemarle  Hotel,  where  they  found  themselves,  after 
some  weeks'  delay,  in  the  uncomfortable  position  of  being  unable  to 
pay  their  hotel  bill.  In  their  extremity  they  applied  to  one  Baron 
Grant,  at  that  time  a  bright  particular  star  in  the  Stock  Exchange 
tirmament.  Baron  Grant  was  largely  interested  in  the  gold  conces- 
sions of  Lydenburg,  and  he  was  willing  to  assist,  but  on  terms.  And 
the  quid  pro  quo  which  he  asked  was  some  public  assurance  of  good- 
will, protection,  and  encouragement  to  British  settlers  in  the  Transvaal. 
Mr.  Kruger  responded  on  behalf  of  the  Republic  by  publishing  in  the 
London  press  the  cordial  invitation  and  welcome  and  the  promise  of 
rights  and  protection  to  all  who  would  come,  so  frequently  quoted 
against  him  of  late. 

By  this  time  Moodies  had  attracted  a  fair  number  of  people,  and 
the  prospects  of  the  country  began,  for  the  first  time  with  some 
show  of  reason,  to  look  brighter.  No  results  were  felt,  however,  and 
the  condition  of  the  Government  officials  was  deplorable.  Smuggling 
was  carried  on  systematically ;  in  many  cases  officials  '  stood  in  '  with 
smugglers.  They  were  obliged  either  to  do  that  or  to  enforce  the  laws 
properly  and  get  what  they  could  by  seizing  contraband  goods.  There 
were  two  objections  to  the  latter  course,  however.  One  was  that  the 
country  was  large  and  detection  difficult  with  men  who  were  both 
daring  and  resourceful;  and  the  other  was  that  the  officials  were 
not  sure  of  receiving  their  share  of  the  spoil  from  a  Government  so 
hard  pressed  as  this  one  was,  and  whose  higher  officials  also  had 
difficulties  about  payment  of  salaries.  In  many  cases  salaries  were 
six  months  in  arrear ;  and  other  cases  could  be  quoted  of  officials 
whose  house-rent  alone  amounted  to  more  than  their  nominal  re- 
muneration. Yet  they  continued  to  hve,  and  it  was  not  difficult  to 
smrmise  how.  Another  significant  fact  was  that  goods  subject  to 
heavy  duties — such  as  spirits,  hams,  etc. — could  be  bought  at  any 
store  at  a  price  which  was  less  than  original  cost  plus  carriage  and 
duty.  Smuggling  was  a  very  palpable  fact,  and — quoth  the  pubhc  and 
the  officials— a  very  convenient  and  even  necessary  evil. 

The  principle  on  which  the  Customs  officials  conducted  the  business 
of  their  office  was  observed  by  other  officials  of  the  Eepublic,  and  in 
one  department,  at  least,  the  abuses  have  had  a  very  far-reaching  and 
serious  effect.  The  Field-cornets — district  officials  who  act  as  petty 
justices,  registering,  and  pass  officers,  collectors   of   personal  taxes. 


of  the  suzerainty  would  hold  good  against  the  independence  of  the  Transvaal, 
for  in  the  preamble  of  the  1881  Convention  alone  is  any  mention  made  of 
either  the  grant  or  the  reservation. 


48  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

captains  of  the  burgher  forces,  etc. — are  the  officers  with  whom  each 
newcomer  has  to  register.  This  is  an  important  matter,  because  the 
period  of  residence  for  the  purpose  of  naturalization  and  enfranchise- 
ment is  reckoned  from  the  date  of  registration  in  the  Field- cornet's 
books.  As  these  officials  were  practically  turned  loose  on  the  public 
to  make  a  living  the  best  way  they  could,  many  of  them,  notwith- 
standing that  they  collected  the  taxes  imposed  by  law,  omitted  to  enter 
the  names  of  new  arrivals  in  their  books,  thus  securing  themselves 
against  having  to  make  good  these  amounts  in  event  of  an  inspection 
of  the  books.  Many  of  the  Field-cornets  were  barely  able  to  write  ; 
they  had  no  '  offices,'  and  would  accept  taxes  and  registrations  at  any 
time  and  in  any  place.  The  chances  of  correct  entry  were  therefore 
remote.  The  result  of  this  is  very  serious.  The  records  are  either 
*  lost '  when  they  might  prove  embarrassing,  or  so  incorrectly  or  im- 
perfectly kept  as  to  be  of  no  use  whatever ;  and  settlers  in  the 
Transvaal  from  1882  to  1890  are  in  most  cases  unable  to  prove  their 
registration  as  the  law  requires,  and  this  through  no  fault  of  their 
own. 

In  the  country  districts  justice  was  not  a  commodity  intended  for 
the  Britisher.  Many  cases  of  gross  abuse,  and  several  of  actual 
murder  occurred ;  and  in  1885  the  case  of  Mr.  Jas.  Donaldson,  then 
residing  on  a  farm  in  Lydenburg — lately  one  of  the  Eeform  prisoners 
— was  mentioned  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  became  the  subject 
of  a  demand  by  the  Imperial  Government  for  reparation  and  punish- 
ment. He  had  been  ordered  by  two  Boers  (one  of  whom  was  in  the 
habit  of  boasting  that  he  had  shot  an  unarmed  Englishman  in  Lyden- 
burg since  the  war,  and  would  shoot  others)  to  abstain  from  collecting 
hut  taxes  on  his  own  farm;  and  on  refusing  had  been  attacked  by 
them.  After  beating  them  off  single-handed,  he  was  later  on  again 
attacked  by  his  former  assailants,  reinforced  by  three  others.  They 
bound  him  with  reims  (thongs),  kicked  and  beat  him  with  sjamboks 
(raw-hide  whips)  and  clubs,  stoned  him,  and  left  him  unconscious  and 
so  disfigured  that  he  was  thought  to  be  dead  when  found  some  hours 
later.  On  receipt  of  the  Imperial  Government's  representations,  the 
men  were  arrested,  tried  and  fined.  The  fines  were  stated  to  have 
been  remitted  at  once  by  the  Government,  but  in  the  civil  action 
which  followed  Mr.  Donaldson  obtained  ^£500  damages.  The  incident 
had  a  distinctly  beneficial  effect,  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  the 
maltreatment  of  defenceless  men  simply  because  they  were  Britishers. 
Moreover,  with  the  improvement  in  trade  which  followed  the  golu 
discoveries  of  1885  and  1886  at  Moodies  and  Barberton,  the  relationo 
between  the  two  races  also  improved.  Frequent  intercourse  and  com- 
mercial relations  begot  a  better  knowledge  of  each  other,  and  the  nerc-e 
hatred  of  the  Britisher  began  to  disappear  in  the  neighbourhood  ot 
the  towns  and  the  goldfields. 


AFTER  THE  WAR  49 

In  1886  the  wonderful  richness  of  the  Sheba  Mine  in  Barberton 
attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  drew  a  large  number  of  persons 
—prospectors,  speculators,  traders,  etc. — to  the  Transvaal.  Before  the 
end  of  1887  ten  or  twelve  thousand  must  have  poured  into  the  country. 
The  effect  was  magical.  The  revenue,  which  had  already  increased  by 
50  per  cent,  in  1886,  doubled  itself  in  1887,  and  then  there  came  unto 
the  Boer  Government  that  which  they  had  least  expected — ample 
means  to  pursue  their  greater  ambitions.  But  unmixed  good  comes  to 
few,  and  with  the  blessmgs  of  plenty  came  the  cares  of  Government, 
the  problem  of  dealing  with  people  whose  habits,  thoughts,  ambitions, 
methods,  language,  and  logic  differed  utterly  from  their  own.  Father 
Abraham  on  the  London  Stock  Exchange  would  not  be  much  more 
'  at  sea '  than  the  peasant  farmers  of  the  Volksraad  were  in  dealing 
with  the  requirements  of  the  new  settlers. 

Agitations  for  reforms  commenced  early  in  Barberton.  At  first  it 
was  only  roads  and  bridges  that  were  wanted,  or  the  remission  of  certain 
taxes,  or  security  of  title  for  stands  and  claims.  Later  on  a  po]itical 
association  named  the  Transvaal  Republican  Union  was  formed  in 
Barberton,  having  a  constitution  and  programme  much  the  same  as 
those  of  the  Transvaal  National  Union,  formed  some  five  years  later 
in  Johannesburg.  The  work  of  this  body  was  looked  on  with  much 
disfavour  by  the  Government,  and  it  was  intimated  to  some  of  the 
prominent  members  that  if  they  did  not  cease  to  concern  themselves 
with  politics  they  would  suffer  in  their  business  relations,  and  might 
even  be  called  upon  to  leave  the  country.  Many  reforms  were  specified 
as  deskable,  and  the  franchise  question  was  raised,  with  the  object  of 
getting  the  Government  to  make  some  reasonable  provision  m  lieu 
of  the  registration  clause,  which  was  found  in  most  cases  to  be  an 
absolute  bar. 

The  discovery  of  the  Witwatersrand  conglomerate  formation  soon 
helped  to  swell  the  flowing  tide  of  prosperity.  In  the  middle  of  1887 
the  regular  output  of  gold  commenced,  and  the  fields  have  never 
•  looked  back '  since.  Johannesburg  —  named  after  Mr.  Johannes 
Kissik,  the  Surveyor-General  of  the  Transvaal — was  soon  a  far  greater 
problem  than  Barberton  had  been.  The  shareholders  in  the  mines 
soon  found  it  necessary  to  have  some  organization  to  protect  their 
interests  and  give  unison  to  their  policy,  and  to  preserve  the  records 
and  collect  information  for  the  industry.  The  Witwatersrand  Chamber 
of  Mines  was  then  formed,  a  voluntary  association  of  unique  interest 
and  efficiency.  The  organization  includes  all  the  representative  and 
influential  men,  and  every  company  of  any  consequence  connected 
with  the  mining  industry  ;  and  it  has,  through  its  committee  and 
officials,  for  eight  years  represented  to  the  Volksraad  the  existence  of 
abuses  and  grievances,  the  remedies  that  are  required,  and  the 
measures  which  are  felt  to  be  necessary  or  conducive  to  the  progress 

4 


to  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

of  the  industry  in  particular,  or  the  welfare  of  the  State  in  general. 
The  President,  Executive  and  Volksraad,  by  neglect  of  their  obvious 
duties,  by  their  ignorance  of  ordinary  public  affairs,  by  their  wilful 
disregard  of  the  requirements  of  the  Uitlanders,  have  given  cohesion 
to  people  about  as  heterogeneous  as  any  community  under  the  sun,  and 
have  trained  them  to  act  and  to  care  for  themselves.  The  refusal  year 
after  year  to  give  a  charter  of  incorporation  to  the  Chamber,  on  the 
grounds  that  it  would  be  creating  an  imperium  in  imperio,  and  the 
comments  of  Volksraad  members  on  the  petition,  have  made  it  clear 
that  the  Government  view  the  Chamber  with  no  friendly  eye.  The 
facts,  that  in  order  to  get  a  workable  pass  law  at  all  the  Chamber  had 
to  prepare  it  in  every  detail,  together  with  plans  for  the  creation  and 
working  of  a  Government  department,  and  that  in  order  to  diminish 
the  litigation  under  the  gold  law,  and  to  make  that  fearful  and 
wonderful  agglomeration  of  erratic,  experimental,  crude,  involved, 
contradictory,  and  truly  incomprehensible  enactments  at  all  imder- 
standable,  the  Chamber  had  to  codify  it  at  its  own  expense  and  on  its 
own  initiative,  illustrate  both  the  indispensable  character  of  the 
organization,  and  the  ignorance  and  ineptitude  of  the  Government. 

The  records  of  the  Volksraad  for  the  last  ten  years  may  be  searched 
in  vain  for  any  measure  calculated  constructively  to  advance  the 
country,  or  to  better  the  conditions  of  the  workers  in  it,  with  the  few 
— very  few — exceptions  of  those  proposed  by  the  Chamber  of  Mines. 
The  country  has,  in  fact,  run  the  Government,  and  the  Government 
has  been  unable  to  ruin  it. 

Shortly  after  the  discovery  of  the  Rand  conglomerates,  it  became 
clear  that  a  railway  would  have  to  be  built  between  the  coalfields  and 
the  mines — some  forty  miles.  But  it  was  a  fixed  principle  of  the 
Boers  that  no  railways  (with  the  exception  of  the  Delagoa  Bay  line, 
which,  as  the  means  of  diverting  trade  from  British  channels,  was 
regarded  as  a  necessary  evil)  should  be  built,  since  they  could  compete 
successfully  with  the  ox-waggon,  and  thus  deprive  the  '  poor  burgher  ' 
of  his  legitimate  trade  spoil ;  and  great  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
getting  the  consent  of  the  Raad.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  permission 
to  build  it  was  only  obtained  by  subterfuge ;  for  it  was  explained  to 
the  worthy  law-makers  that  it  was  not  a  railway  at  all — only  a  steam 
tram.     And  the  Rand  Steam  Tram  it  is  called  to  this  day. 

The  Delagoa  Railway — the  darling  scheme  of  Presidents  Burgers 
and  Kruger  in  turn — was  taken  seriously  in  hand  as  soon  as  it  was 
possible  to  raise  money  on  almost  any  terms.  The  concession  for  all 
railways  in  the  State  was  granted  on  April  16,  1884,  to  a  group  of 
Hollander  and  German  capitalists,  and  confirmed  by  the  Volksraad  on 
August  23  following.  The  President's  excuse  for  granting  and  pre- 
serving this  iniquitous  bond  on  the  prosperity  of  the  State  is,  that 
when  the  country  was  poor  and  its  credit  bad,  friends  in  Holland  came 


AFTER  THE  WAR  51 

forward  and  generously  helped  it,  and  this  must  not  be  forgotten  to 
them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  friends  accepted  the  concession  when  the 
State  was  poor  and  its  credit  bad,  but  did  nothing  until  the  State's 
credit  improved  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  mortgageable.  Then  the 
friends  granted  certain  favourable  terms  under  their  concession  to 
other  friends,  who  built  the  first  section  of  the  line  at  preposterous 
rates,  and  repaid  themselves  out  of  moneys  raised  on  the  State's 
credit. 

A  well-known  South  African  politician,  distinguished  alike  for  his 
ability  and  integrity,  who  visited  the  Transvaal  during  the  progress  of 
the  reformers'  trial,  and  was  anxious  in  the  interests  of  all  South  Africa 
to  find  a  solution  of  the  differences,  put  the  position  thus  to  some  of 
the  leading  men  of  the  Eand :  '  You  can  see  for  yourselves  that  this  is 
no  time  to  ask  for  the  franchise ;  for  the  time  being,  Jameson's  invasion 
has  made  such  a  suggestion  impossible.  Now,  tell  me  in  a  word,  Is 
there  any  one  thing  that  you  require  more  than  anything  else,  which 
we  can  help  you  to  get  ?'  The  answer  was :  '  The  one  thing  which  we 
must  have— not  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the  security  it  offers  for 
obtaining  and  retaining  other  reforms — is  the  franchise.  No  promise 
of  reform,  no  reform  itself,  will  be  worth  an  hour's  purchase  unless  we 
have  the  status  of  voters  to  make  our  influence  felt.  But,  if  you  want 
the  chief  economic  grievances,  they  are :  the  Netherlands  Eailway 
Concession,  the  dynamite  monopoly,  the  liquor  traffic,  and  native 
labour,  which,  together,  constitute  an  unwarrantable  burden  of  indirect 
taxation  on  the  industry  of  over  two  and  a  half  millions  sterling 
annually.  We  petitioned  until  we  were  jeered  at ;  we  agitated  until 
we— well — came  here  [Pretoria  Gaol]  ;  and  we  know  that  we  shall  get 
no  remedy  until  we  have  the  vote  to  enforce  it.  We  are  not  a  political 
but  a  working  community,  and  if  we  were  honestly  and  capably 
governed  the  majority  of  us  would  be  content  to  wait  for  the  franchise 
for  a  considerable  time  yet  in  recognition  of  the  peculiar  circumstances, 
and  of  the  feelings  of  the  older  inhabitants.  That  is  the  position  in  a 
nutshell.' 

The  Netherlands  Eailway  Company  is,  then,  a  very  important 
Netherlands    factor.    It  is  unnecessary  to  go  very  fully  into  its  history 

Railway        and  the  details  of  its  administration.     As  the  holder  of 

Company,  ^n  absolute  monopoly,  as  the  enterprise  which  has 
involved  the  State  in  its  National  Debt,  and  as  the  sole  channel  through 
which  such  money  has  been  expended,  the  Company  has  gradually 
worked  itself  into  the  position  of  being  the  financial  department  of  the 
State  ;  and  the  functions  which  are  elsewhere  exercised  by  the  heads 
of  the  Government  belong  here,  in  practice,  entirely  to  this  foreign 
corporation.  Petitions  for  the  cancellation  of  this  concession  were 
presented  in  1888,  when  the  progressive  element  in  the  first  Volksraad 
consisted  of  one  man — Mr.  Loveday,  one  of  the  loyalists  in  the  war. 

4—2 


52  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  agitation  begun  and  carried  on  by  him  was  taken  up  by  others, 
but  without  further  result  than  that  of  compelling  the  President  to 
show  his  hand  and  step  forward  as  the  champion  of  the  monopoly  on 
every  occasion  on  which  it  was  assailed.  During  the  years  1893-96  the 
President  stoutly  defended  the  Company  in  the  Volksraad,  and  by  his 
influence  and  the  solid  vote  of  his  ignorant  Dopper  Party  completely 
blocked  all  legislation  tending  to  control  the  Company.  Indeed,  at  the 
end  of  the  Session  of  1895,  on  receiving  representations  from  the 
business  communities  of  the  Eepublic  as  to  the  desirability  of  removing 
this  incubus  from  the  overtaxed  people,  the  President  stated  plainly 
that  the  Netherlands  Eailway  Concession  was  a  matter  of  high  politics 
and  did  not  concern  any  but  the  bm^ghers  of  the  State,  and  that  he 
would  receive  no  representations  from  the  Uitlanders  on  the  subject, 
nor  would  he  permit  them  to  discuss  it. 

Very  shortly  after  the  granting  of  this  railway  concession  came  the 
appointment  of  Dr.  Leyds  as  State  Attorney  for  the  Eepublic,  he 
having  been  recommended  and  pushed  forward  by  the  gentlemen  in 
Holland  to  whom  the  concession  had  been  granted.  It  is  stated  that 
he  was  sent  out  as  the  agent  of  the  concessionnaires  in  order  to  protect 
and  advance  their  interests,  although  at  the  same  time  in  the  service 
of  the  Eepubhc.  It  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  Mr.  Beelaerts  van 
Blokland,  the  Consul- General  for  the  Eepublic  in  Holland,  is  the  agent 
of  the  concessionnaires  in  that  country,  and  the  accord  with  which  these 
two  gentlemen,  as  railway  commissioners  at  their  respective  ends,  have 
always  acted  becomes  intelligible.  Several  of  the  vital  conditions  of 
the  concession  have  been  freely  violated,  the  first  being  that  a  certain 
section  of  the  line  (Nelspruit)  should  be  completed  within  four  years. 
It  was  not  completed  for  eight.  The  concession  really  became  void 
several  times  drnring  the  years  prior  to  1890,  but  always  found  a 
stalwart  champion  in  the  President,  who  continued  to  defend  the 
concessionnaires  for  some  two  years  after  they  had  failed  to  get  their 
capital  subscribed.  The  Company  was  floated  on  June  21,  1887,  on 
the  most  peculiar  terms,  the  capital  of  ^£166,666  being  in  2,000  shares 
of  1,000  guilders,  or  £Sd  6s.  8d.  each.  The  shares  were  subscribed  for 
by  the  following  groups  : 

German       819  shares,  carrying  30  votes. 

Hollander 581       „  ,,       76      ,, 

The  Republic  600       ,,  ,,          6      ,, 

The  trust-deed,  which  limited  the  Eepublic  to  6  out  of  112  votes, 
although  it  subscribed  about  one-third  of  the  capital,  and  gave  to  the 
smallest  holders,  the  Hollanders,  twice  as  many  votes  as  all  the  others 
put  together,  was  passed  by  Dr.  Leyds,  in  his  capacity  of  legal  adviser 
of  the  Government,  having  previously  been  prepared  by  him  in  his 
other  capacity.  The  sum  of  ^6124,000  appears  to  have  been  expended 
on  construction  ten  months  before  any  contract  was  given  out  for  the 


AFTEPt  THE  WAR  53 

same  or  any  work  begun,  and  fifteen  months  before  any  material  was 
shipped. 

The  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  first  sixty  miles  compels 
admiration,  if  only  for  its  impudence.  In  the  first  place  the  con- 
tractors, Van  Hattum  and  Co.,  were  to  build  the  line  at  a  cost  to  be 
mutually  agreed  upon  by  them  and  the  railway  company,  and  they 
were  to  receive  as  remuneration  11  per  cent,  upon  the  amount  of  the 
specification.  But  should  they  exceed  the  contract  price,  then  the 
11  per  cent,  was  to  be  proportionately  decreased  by  an  arranged  sliding 
scale,  provided,  however,  that  Van  Hattum  and  Co.  did  not  exceed  the 
specification  by  more  than  100  per  cent.,  in  which  latter  case  the 
Company  would  have  the  right  to  cancel  the  contract.  By  this  pro- 
vision Messrs.  Van  Hattum  and  Co.  could  increase  the  cost  by  100  per 
cent.,  provided  they  were  willing  to  lose  the  11  per  cent,  profit,  leaving 
them  a  net  gain  of  89  per  cent.  They  did  not  neglect  the  opportunity. 
Whole  sections  of  earthworks  cost  ^23,500  per  mile,  which  should  not 
have  cost  £8,000.  Close  upon  a  thousand  Hollanders  were  brought 
out  from  Holland  to  work  for  a  few  months  in  each  year  on  the  line, 
and  then  be  sent  back  to  Holland  again  at  the  expense  of  the  Eepublic. 
In  a  country  which  abounded  in  stone,  the  Komati  Bridge  was  built  of 
dressed  stone  which  had  been  quarried  and  worked  in  Holland,  and 
exported  some  7,000  miles  by  ship  and  rail. 

These  are  a  few  instances  out  of  many.  The  loss  to  the  country 
through  the  financing  was  of  course  far  greater  than  any  manipulation 
of  the  construction  could  bring  about.  In  the  creating  of  overdrafts 
and  the  raising  of  loans  very  large  sums  indeed  were  handled.  Three- 
quarters  of  a  million  in  one  case  and  a  million  in  another  offered 
opportunities  which  the  Hollander- German  gentlemen  who  were  doing 
business  for  the  country  out  of  love  for  it  (as  was  frequently  urged  on 
their  behalf  in  the  Volksraad)  were  quick  to  perceive.  The  5  per  cent, 
debentm^es  issued  to  raise  the  latter  sum  were  sold  at  £95  15s. ;  but 
the  financiers  deducted  £5  commission  from  even  this,  so  that  the 
State  has  only  benefited  to  the  extent  of  £90  15s.  This  transaction 
was  effected  at  a  time  when  the  State  loan  known  as  the  Transvaal 
Fives — raised  on  exactly  the  same  interest  and  precisely  the  same 
guarantee — was  quoted  at  over  par.  "What,  however,  was  felt  to  be 
worse  than  any  detail  of  finance  was  that  this  corporation  of  foreigners 
had  gradually  obtained  complete  control  of  the  finances  of  the  State, 
and  through  the  railway  system  it  practically  dictated  the  relations 
with  the  other  Governments  in  South  Africa,  by  such  measures,  for 
instance,  as  the  imposition  of  a  charge  of  SJd.  per  ton  per  mile  on  goods 
travelling  over  their  lines  coming  from  the  Cape  Colony,  whilst  the 
other  lines  are  favoured  by  a  charge  of  less  than  half  that.  The 
burdens  placed  upon  the  mining  industry  by  the  excessive  charges 
imposed  for  political  purposes  were,  m  the  case  of  the  poorer  mines, 


54  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

ruinous.  The  right  which  the  Company  had  to  collect  the  Customs 
dues  for  account  of  the  State,  to  retain  them  as  security  for  the  pay- 
ment of  interest  on  their  shares  and  debentures,  and  to  impose  a 
charge  for  collection  quite  disproportionate  to  the  cost,  was  another 
serious  grievance.  It  was  hopeless,  however,  to  deal  with  the  whole 
question.  The  Government  had  set  its  face  against  any  reform  in  this 
quarter.  It  was  not  possible  to  obtain  even  ordinary  working  facilities 
such  as  any  business  corporation  unprotected  by  an  absolute  monopoly 
would  be  bound  to  concede  of  its  own  accord,  in  order  to  catch  a 
measure  of  trade. 

The  Government  have  the  right,  under  the  agreement  with  the 
Company,  to  take  over  the  railway  on  certain  conditions,  of  which 
the  following  are  the  most  important : 

(a)  The  Company  shall  receive  one  year's  notice  of  the  intention 

to  take  over. 
(6)  The  Company  shall  receive  twenty  times  the  amount  of  the 

average  of  the  last  three  years'  dividends, 
(c)  The  Company  shall  receive  as  a  solatium  for  the  unexpired 
period  of  the  concession  an  amount  equal  to  one  per  cent,  of 
its  nominal  capital  for  each  year  up  to  the  year  of  expiring 
(1915). 
The   Government   can   take   over  the   Krugersdorp-Johannesburg- 
Boksburg  Tramway  against  payment  of  the  cost  of  construction. 

If  the  Volksraad  should  not  during  this  Session^  decide  to  nationalize 
the  railway  no  change  can  take  place  before  1898,  so  that  the  three 
years  1895  to  1897  would  have  to  be  taken  as  a  basis,  and  therefore  the 
6  per  cent,  for  1894,  the  only  low  dividend,  would  not  come  into  the 
calculation.  This  would  of  course  considerably  increase  the  purchase 
price — e.g., 

1895     9  per  cent. 

1896     14        ,,         (estimate), 

1897     14 

Total     ...     37        ,, 

That  is  to  say,  an  average  distribution  of  12-33  per  cent,  for  the  three 
years.     The  purchase  price  would  thus  be  : 

12-33  X  20  =  246-66  per  cent. 
17  years'  premium  17  ,, 

Total     ...     263-66 

This  has  been  clearly  explained  to  the  Volksraad  but  without  avail, 
the  President's  influence  on  the  other  side  being  too  strong.  During 
the  Session  of  1895  it  was  made  clear  that  agitation  against  the  Com- 
pany was  as  futile  as  beating  the  air.     When  the  Hollander  clique 

1  Written  August,  1896. 


i 


AFTER  THE  WAR  55 

found  that  they  could  no  longer  convince  the  Boers  as  a  whole  of  the 
soundness  of  their  business  and  the  genuineness  of  their  aims,  and 
when  they  failed  to  combat  the  arguments  and  exposures  of  their  critics, 
they  resorted  to  other  tactics,  and  promulgated  voluminous  reports  and 
statements  of  explanations  which  left  the  unfortunate  Vollisraad  mem- 
bers absolutely  stupefied  where  they  had  formerly  only  been  confused.^ 
The  following  is  taken  from  an  article  in  the  Johannesburg  Mining 
Journal,  dealing  with  the  burdens  imposed  by  the  railway  company 
upon  the  industry : 

Railway  Monopoly. 

This  is  another  carefully  designed  burden  iVjjon  the  mines  and  country. 
The  issued  capital  and  loans  of  the  Netherlands  Company  now  total  about 
£7,000,000,  upon  which  an  average  interest  of  about  5 J  percent. — guaranteed 
by  the  State — is  paid,  equal  to  £370,000  per  annum.  Naturally  the  bonds 
are  at  a  high  premium.  The  Company  and  its  liabilities  can  be  taken  over  by 
the  State  at  a  year's  notice,  and  the  necessary  funds  for  this  purpose  can  be 
raised  at  3  per  cent.  An  offer  was  recently  made  to  the  Government  to  con- 
solidate this  and  other  liabilities,  but  the  National  Bank,  which  is  another 
concession,  has  the  monopoly  of  all  State  loan  business,  and  this  circumstance 
effectually  disposed  of  the  proposah  At  3  per  cent,  a  saving  of  £160,000  per 
annum  would  be  made  in  this  monopoly  in  interest  alone.  The  value  repre- 
sented by  the  Custom  dues  on  the  Portuguese  border  we  are  not  in  a  position 
to  estimate,  but  roughly  these  collections  and  the  15  per  cent,  of  the  profits 
paid  to  the  management  and  shareholders  must,  with  other  leakages,  represent 
at  least  another  £100,000  per  annum,  which  should  be  saved  the  country.  As 
the  revenue  of  the  corporation  now  exceeds  £2.000,000  a  year,  of  which  only 
half  is  expended  in  working  costs,  the  estimate  we  have  taken  does  not  err 
upon  the  side  of  extravagance.  By  its  neglect  of  its  duties  towards  the  com- 
mercial and  mining  community  enormous  losses  are  involved.  Thus,  in  the 
coal  traffic,  the  rate — which  is  now  to  be  somewhat  reduced — has  been  3d.  per 
ton  per  mile.  According  to  the  returns  of  the  Chamber  of  Mines,  the  coal 
production  of  the  Transvaal  for  1895  was  1,045,121  tons.  This  is  carried  an 
average  distance  of  nearly  thirty  miles,  but  taking  the  distance  at  twenty-four 
miles  the  charges  are  6s.  per  ton.  At  l|d.  per  ton  per  mile— three  times  as 
much  as  the  Cape  railways  charge — a  saving  upon  the  coal  rates  of  3s.  per  ton 
would  follow,  equal  to  £150,000  per  annum.  Again,  by  the  '  bagging '  system, 
an  additional  cost  of  2s.  3d.  per  ton  is  incurred — details  of  this  item  have  been 
recently  published  in  this  paper — and  if  this  monopoly  were  run  upon  ordinary 
business  lines,  a  further  saving  of  £110,000  would  be  made  by  carrying  coal 
in  bulk.  The  interest  upon  the  amount  required  to  construct  the  necessary 
sidings  for  handling  the  coal,  and  the  tram-lines  required  to  transport  it  to 
the  mines,  would  be  a  mere  fraction  upon  this  amount ;  and  as  the  coal  trade 
in  the  course  of  a  short  time  is  likely  to  see  a  50  per  cent,  increase,  the 
estimate  may  be  allowed  to  stand  at  this  figure  without  deduction.  No  data 
are  available  to  fix  the  amount  of  the  tax  laid  upon  the  people  generally  by 
the  vexatious  delays  and  losses  following  upon  inefficient  railway  administra- 
tion, but  the  monthly  meetings  of  the  local  Chamber  of  Commerce  throw 

^  To  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  conditions  of  the  country,  it  will 
seem  incredible  that  the  legislative  body  could  be  *  fooled  '  on  such  a  subject. 
The  extracts  from  the  newspaper  /eports  of  the  Raad's  proceedings,  printed  in 
Appendix  D  of  this  volume,  will  help  them  to  understand  and  believe. 


56  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

some  light  upon  these  phases  of  a  monopolistic  management.  The  savings 
to  be  made  in  dealing  with  the  coal  traffic  must  not  be  taken  as  exhausting 
all  possible  reforms  ;  the  particulars  given  as  to  this  traffic  only  indicate  and 
suggest  the  wide  area  covered  by  this  monopoly,  which  hitherto  has  made 
but  halting  and  feeble  efforts  to  keep  pace  with  the  requirements  of  the 
public.  Dealing  as  it  does  with  the  imports  of  the  whole  country,  which  now 
amount  in  value  to  £10,000,000,  the  figures  we  have  given  must  serve  merely 
to  illustrate  its  invertebrate  methods  of  handling  traffic,  as  well  as  its  grasping 
greed  in  enforcing  the  rates  fixed  by  the  terms  of  its  concession.  Its  forty 
miles  of  Rand  steam  tram-line  and  thirty-five  miles  of  railway  from  the  Vaal 
River,  with  some  little  assistance  from  the  Delagoa  line  and  Customs,  brought 
in  a  revenue  of  about  £1,250,000  in  1895.  Now  that  the  Natal  line  is  opened 
the  receipts  will  probably  amount  to  nearly  £3,000,000  per  annum,  all  of 
which  should  swell  the  ordinary  revenue  of  the  country,  instead  of  remaining 
in  the  hands  of  foreigners  as  a  reservoir  of  wealth  for  indigent  Hollanders  to 
exploit.  The  total  railway  earnings  of  the  Cape  and  Natal  together  over  all 
their  lines  amounted  to  £3,916,566  in  1895,  and  the  capital  expenditure  on 
railways  by  these  colonies  amounts  to  £26,000,000.  The  greater  portion  of 
these  receipts  come  from  the  Rand  trade,  which  is  compelled  to  pay  an 
additional  £2,500,000,  carrying  charges  to  the  Netherlands  Company,  which 
has  £7,000,000  of  capital.  Thus,  railway  receipts  in  South  Africa  amount 
now  to  £7,000,000  per  annum,  of  which  the  Rand  contributes  at  least 
£5,000,000. 

The  revenue  of  the  company  is  now  considerably  over  £3,000,000  per 
annum.  The  management  claim  that  their  expenses  amount  to  but  40  per 
cent,  of  revenue,  and  this  is  regarded  by  them  as  a  matter  for  general  con- 
gratulation. The  Uitlanders  contend  that  the  concern  is  grossly  mismanaged, 
and  that  the  low  cost  of  working  is  a  fiction.  It  only  appears  low  by  contrast 
with  a  revenue  swollen  by  preposterously  heavy  rates  and  protected  by  a 
monopoly.  The  tariff  could  be  reduced  by  one-half;  that  is  to  say,  a  re- 
mission of  taxation  to  the  tune  of  one  and  a  half  millions  annually  could  be 
effected  without  depriving  the  Company  of  a  legitimate  and  indeed  very 
handsome  profit. 

The  Selati  Eailway  Scheme  1  '  Conceived  in  iniquity,  delivered  in 
shame,  died  in  disgrace  1'  might  be  its  history,  but  for 
Ra/lwav  *^®  ^^^*  *^^*  ^*  ^^  ^°*  quite  dead  yet.  But  very  nearly  I 
The  concession  was  obtained  during  the  Session  of  1890 
by  a  member  of  the  First  Volksraad,  Mr.  Barend  J.  Vorster,  jun., 
who  himself  took  part  in  and  guided  the  tone  of  the  debate  which 
decided  the  granting  of  the  concession.  The  Raad  resolved  to  endeavour 
to  obtain  the  favourable  opinions  of  their  constituents,  but  before  doing 
so  the  generous  Mr.  Vorster  made  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  '  presents ' 
to  the  members.  American  spiders,  Cape  carts,  gold  watches,  shares 
in  the  Company  to  be  floated,  and  sums  in  cash  were  the  trifles  by 
which  Mr.  Vorster  won  his  way  to  favour.  He  placated  the  President 
by  presenting  to  the  Volksraad  a  portrait  of  his  Honour,  executed  by 
the  late  Mr.  Schroeder,  South  Africa's  one  artist.  The  picture  cost 
£600.  The  affair  was  a  notorious  and  shameless  matter  of  bribery, 
and  the  only  profit  which  the  country  gained  from  it  was  a  candid  con- 
fession of  personal  principles  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Kruger  himself,  who, 


AFTER  THE  WAR  57 

when  the  exposure  took  place,  stated  that  he  saw  no  harm  in  members 
receiving  presents.  Debentures  to  the  amount  of  ^500,000  were  issued, 
bearing  Government  guarantee  of  4  per  cent.  The  Company  received 
^£70  for  each  £100  debenture.  Comment  is  superfluous.  A  second 
issue  of  a  miUion  was  made,  nominally  at  JG93  10s.,  but  the  Company 
only  received  £86 — a  commission  to  the  brokers  or  agents  of  8|  per 
cent.,  at  a  time  when  the  Company's  previous  issue  of  4  per  cents,  were 
standing  at  £91  in  the  market.  The  costs  of  flotation  were  charged  at 
upwards  of  ^632,000  ;  the  expenses  of  one  gentleman's  travellings,  etc., 
£6,000. 

But  these  are  *  trifles  light  as  air.'  This  Selati  Eailway  Company, 
which,  being  guaranteed  by  Government,  is  really  a  Government  liability, 
arranged  with  a  contractor  to  build  a  line  at  the  maximum  cost  allowed 
in  the  concession,  £9,600  per  mile.  Two  days  later  this  contractor 
sublet  the  contract  for  £7,002  per  mile.  As  the  distance  is  200  miles, 
the  Eepublic  was  robbed  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen  of  £519,600 — one  of 
the  biggest  '  steals  '  even  in  the  Transvaal.  During  the  two  years  for 
which  Dr.  Leyds  was  responsible  as  the  representative  of  the  Eepublic 
for  the  management  of  this  affair,  none  of  these  pecuhar  transactions 
were  detected — at  any  rate,  none  were  reported  or  exposed ;  but  on  the 
accession  to  office  of  an  ignorant  old  Boer  the  nest  of  swindles  appears 
to  have  been  discovered  without  any  difficulty.  And  it  is  generally 
admitted  that  Dr.  Leyds  is  not  a  fool.  This  exposure  took  place  at  the 
end  of  the  Session  of  1894,  and,  inured  as  the  Uitlanders  had  become 
to  jobs,  this  was  an  eye-opener  even  for  them,  and  the  startled  com- 
munity began  wondering  what  more  might  be  in  store  for  them — the 
unfortunate  tax-payers — who  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  it  all. 

Revenue  Turning  to  the  finances  of  the  country,  the  following 
tables  are  as  instructive  as  anything  can  be  : 

REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURE  OF  THE  SOUTH  AFRICAN 
REPUBLIC.! 


Fiscal  period. 

Revenue. 

^Tr^.'^-        «--^«- 

£ 

£ 

Aug. 

1,  1871,  to  July   31,  1872  ... 

40,988  ... 

35,714 

1,  1872,  „  Jan.    31,  1873  ... 

43,239  ... 

41,813 

Feb. 

],  1873,  „     ,,      31,  1874  ... 

49,318  ... 

45,482  Gold  discovered 
in  Lydenburg. 

>> 

1,  1874,  „     „      31,  1875  ... 

58,553  ... 

61,785 

,) 

1,  1875,  ,,     „      31,  1876  ... 

64,582  ... 

69,394 

1,  1876,  „     „      31,  1877  ... 

62,762  ... 

64,505 

,, 

1,  1877,  „  April  12,  1877  ... 

25,752  ... 

17,235 

April 

12,  1877,  ,,  Dec.    31,  1877  ... 

54,127  ... 

70,003 

Jan, 

1,  1878,  „     „      31,  1878  ... 

76,774  ... 

89,063 

,, 

1,  1879,  ,,     ,,      31,  1879  ... 

93,409  ... 

177,696 

" 

1,  1880,  ,,     „      31,  1880  ... 

174,069  ... 

144,943 

Tlie  above  has  been  brought  up  to  date  for  publication,  July,  1899, 


Fiscal  period. 

Revenue. 

£ 
25,326  .. 

Jan. 

1,  1881,  to  Oct. 

14, 

1881  ... 

Aug. 

8,  1881,  ,,  Dec. 

31, 

1881  ... 

37,908  .. 

Jan, 

1,  1882,  ,,     ,, 

31, 

1882  .. 

177,407  .. 

^j 

1,  1883,  ,,     ,, 

31, 

1883   ... 

143,324  .. 

jj 

1,  1884,  ,,  Mar. 

31, 

1884  .. 

44,557  .. 

April 

1,  1884,  „     „ 

31, 

1885  .. 

161,596  .. 

1,  1885,  „     „ 

31, 

1886  .. 

177,877  .. 

1,  1886,  ,,  Dec. 

31, 

1886  .. 

196,236  ., 

58  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

£ 
186,707  British  Govt. 
33,442  Boer  Govt. 
114,476 
184,344 
18,922 
184,820 

162,709  Sheba  floated. 
154,636  Rand  pro- 
claimed. Sept. 
8,  1886.' 
Jan.       1,1887,,,     „      31,1887...      637,749...      594,834  Shares  quoted 

Johannesburg 
Stock 
Exchange. 
Telegraph 
opened 
Johannesburg 
April  26,  1887. 
„       1,1888,,,     „      31,1888...      884,440...      720,492  Boom,  Nov., 
,,       1,1889,  ,,     ,,      31,1889  ...  1,577,445  ...  1,201,135    1888,  to  Jan., 

1889.    Slump, 
March,  1889. 
1,  1890,  ,,     ,,       31,  1890  ...  1,229,061   ...   1,386,461 
,,       1,1891,  .,     ,,      31,1891  ...      967,192  ..  1,350,074  Baring  crisis. 
,,       1,  1892,  ,,     „      31,  1892  ...  1,255,830  ...  1,1 87, 766  Railway  reached 

Johannesburg 
Sept.  15. 
,,  1,  1893,  ,,  ,,  31,  1893  ...  1,702,685  ...  1,302,054 
,,  1,  1894,  „  ,,  31,  1894  ...  2,247,728  ...  1,734,728 
,,  1,  1895,  ,,  ,,  31,  1895  ...  2,923,648  ...  1,948,249 
„  1,  1896,  ,,  „  31,  1896  ...  3,912,095  ...  3,732,492 
,,  1,  1897,  ,,  „  31,  1897  ...  3,956,402  ...  3,898,816 
,,  1,  1898,  ,,  ,,  31,  1898  ...  3,329,958  ...  3,476,844 
,,       1,  1899,  „     „      31,  1899  ...  4,087,852  ...  3,951,234  (Budget.) 

The  figures,  for  the  period  from  1871  to  the  end  of  1887  are  taken  from 
Jeppe's  Transvaal  Almanac  for  1889.  They  represent  the  ordinary  Revenue 
and  Expenditure  arrived  at  after  the  deduction  of  the  items  '  Special  Receipts,' 
'  Special  Deposits, '  '  Deposits  Withdrawn,'  'Advances  Refunded,'  'Advances 
made, '  and  '  Fixed  Deposits '  from  the  totals  given  in  the  Official  Government 
Returns. 

The  figures  for  the  years  1888  to  1899  are  those  of  the  published  Govern- 
ment Returns  after  the  deduction  of — 

Fixed  deposits  from  1888  to  1893  inclusive. 

The  sale  and  purchase  of  explosives  from  1895  to  1898  inclusive. 

The  owner's  share  of  claim  licenses  from  1895  to  1899  inclusive. 

Delagoa  Bay  Customs  Dues  paid  to  the  Netherlands  Railway  for  1898 
and  1899. 

The  dynamite  monopoly  has  always  been  a  very  burning  question 
with  the  Uitlanders.     This  concession  was  granted  shortly 

jjynamite  g^f^gj,  ^j^g  Barberton  Fields  were  discovered,  when  the 
prospects  of  an  industry  in  the  manufacture  of  explosives 


AFTER  THE  WAR  59 

were  not  really  very  great.  The  concessionnaire  himself  has  admitted 
that  had  he  foreseen  to  what  proportions  this  monopoly  would  eventu- 
ally grow  he  would  not  have  had  the  audacity  to  apply  for  it.  This, 
of  course,  is  merely  a  personal  question.  The  fact  which  concerned 
the  industry  was  that  the  right  was  granted  to  one  man  to  manufacture 
explosives  and  to  sell  them  at  a  price  nearly  200  per  cent,  over  that  at 
which  they  could  be  imported.  It  was  found  upon  investigation  after 
some  years  of  agitation  that  the  factory  at  which  this  *  manufacture ' 
took  place  was  in  reality  merely  a  depot  in  which  the  already  manu- 
factured article  was  manipulated  to  a  moderate  extent  so  as  to  lend 
colour  to  the  President's  statement  that  a  local  industry  was  being 
fostered.  An  investigation  held  by  order  of  the  Volksraad  exposed  the 
imposition.  The  President  himself  stated  that  he  found  he  had  been 
deceived  and  that  the  terms  of  the  concession  had  been  broken,  and  he 
urged  the  Kaad  to  cancel  it — which  the  Eaad  did.  The  triumph  was 
considerable  for  the  mining  industry,  and  it  was  the  more  appreciated 
in  that  it  was  the  solitary  success  to  which  the  Uitlanders  could  point 
in  their  long  series  of  agitations  for  reform.  But  the  triumph  was  not 
destined  to  be  a  lasting  one.  Within  a  few  months  the  monopoly  was 
revived  in  an  infinitely  more  obnoxious  form.  It  was  now  called  a 
Government  monopoly,  but  '  the  agency  '  was  bestowed  upon  a  partner 
of  the  gentleman  who  had  formerly  owned  the  concession,  the  Presi- 
dent himself  vigorously  defending  this  course  and  ignoring  his  own 
judgment  on  the  case  uttered  a  few  months  previously.  Land  en 
VolJc,  the  Pretoria  Dutch  newspaper,  exposed  the  whole  of  this  trans- 
action, including  the  system  of  bribery  by  which  the  concessionnaires 
secured  their  renewal,  and  among  other  things  made  the  charge  which 
it  has  continued  to  repeat  ever  since,  that  Mr.  J.  M.  A.  Wolmarans, 
member  of  the  Executive,  received  a  commission  of  one  shilling  per 
case  on  every  case  sold  during  the  continuance  of  the  agency  as  a  con- 
sideration for  his  support  in  the  Executive  Council,  and  that  he  con- 
tinues to  enjoy  this  remuneration,  which  is  estimated  now  to  be  not 
far  short  of  d910,000  a  year.  Mr.  Wolmarans,  for  reasons  of  pride  or 
discretion,  has  declined  to  take  any  notice  of  the  charge,  although 
frequently  pressed  to  take  action  in  the  matter.  It  is  calculated  that 
the  burden  imposed  upon  the  Witwatersrand  Mines  alone  amounts  to 
d6600,000  per  annum,  and  is,  of  course,  daily  increasing. 

The   question  of  the  franchise,  which  has   achieved  the  greatest 

prominence  in  the  Uitlander  agitation,  is  one  with  which 
L^8        ^®^  people  even  in  the  Transvaal  are  familiar,  so  many 

and  peculiar  have  been  the  changes  effected  in  the  law. 
Lawyers  differ  as  to  whether  certain  laws  revoke  or  merely  supplement 
previous  ones,  and  the  President  himself — to  the  grim  amusement  of 
the  Uitlanders — frequently  goes  astray  when  he  speaks  on  franchise. 
The  first  law  on  burgher  and  electoral  rights  is  No.  X  of  1876,  which 


GO  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

remained  in  force  until  1882.  By  it  the  possession  of  landed  property 
or  else  residence  for  one  year  qualified  the  settler  for  full  burgher 
privileges.  Law  No.  7  of  1882  was  the  first  attempt  of  the  restored 
Republic  to  deal  with  the  question.  It  was  then  enacted  that  an  alien 
could  be  naturalized  and  enfranchised  after  five  years'  residence,  such 
residence  to  be  proved  by  the  Field-cornet's  books  of  registration.  It 
has  already  been  explained  that  these  records,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
were  either  improperly  kept  or  non-existent. 

In  1890  Law  No,  4  was  passed,  creating  the  Second  Volksraad  and 
altering  the  Grondwet  (or  constitution)  accordingly.  By  this  law  the 
franchise  was  indirectly  altered  without  repealing  those  portions  which 
may  be  at  variance  with  or  repugnant  to  the  implied  alterations,  and 
this  was  done  by  simply  defining  what  class  of  electors  should  vote  for 
members  of  the  First  Raad,  and  what  class  for  members  of  the  Second. 
Thus,  '  the  members  of  the  First  Volksraad  shall  be  elected  by  those 
enfranchised  burghers  who  have  obtained  the  right  of  voting  before  this 
law  comes  in  force,  or  thereafter  by  birth  in  the  State,  and  on  having 
attained  the  age  of  sixteen  years.'  Secondly,  all  those  who  became 
naturalized  and  enfranchised  after  this  law  was  passed  could  not  vote 
for  members  of  the  First  Volksraad,  but  a  subsequent  article  in  the  law 
provides  that  the  higher  rights  can  be  obtained  by  those  who  shall  have 
been  eligible  for  ten  years  for  election  to  the  Second  Volksraad ;  and  it 
is  then  explained  that,  in  order  to  be  eligible  for  the  Second  Volksraad, 
it  is  necessary  to  be  thirty  years  of  age,  to  be  a  member  of  the  Pro- 
testant Church,  to  live  and  have  landed  property  in  the  Republic,  and 
to  have  been  a  naturahzed  subject  for  two  years.  Thus  the  full  electoral 
privileges  were  only  obtainable  after  fourteen  years'  residence  in  the 
State,  and  the  possession  of  the  other  qualifications  of  religion,  pro- 
perty, etc. 

Next  came  Law  No.  13  of  1891,  which  was  rather  a  codification  than 
an  alteration  of  previous  laws.  In  1892  another  law  was  passed  again 
explaining,  but  not  materially  altering,  the  franchise.  In  1893  Law 
No.  14  was  passed  as  an  amendment  of  previous  laws  :  further  juggling 
the  position — further  hedging  in  the  sacred  preserve.  As  the  law  was 
superseded  in  the  following  year  it  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  details ; 
but  note  how  the  measure  became  law  1  It  was  not  published  in  the 
Staats  Courcmt  for  three  months  as  required  by  law ;  it  was  not  pub- 
Ilsiied  at  all ;  nor  was  any  special  resolution  taken  affirming  that  it 
was  a  matter  of  extreme  urgency,  and  therefore  to  be  held  exempt  from 
that  rule  of  procedure ;  so  that  the  High  Court  ought  to  be  able  to 
declare  it  null  and  void.  The  circumstances  of  its  introduction  could 
not  be  considered  to  warrant  the  plea  of  urgency.  On  the  29th  and 
30th  June,  1893,  memorials  upon  the  franchise  question  were  laid  before 
the  Raad.  From  Johannesburg  came  one  memorial  bearing  4,507 
signatures  out  of  the  grand  total  of  6,665  memorialists.     It  was  in  favour 


AFTER  THE  WAR  61 

of  extension  of  the  franchise.  Another  memorial  from  103  Free  State 
burghers  was  in  favour  of  extension,  another  from  Barberton  from 
40  burghers  also  for  extension.  Seven  memorials,  bearing  444  signa- 
tures, were  against  extension.  All  the  others  concerned  minor  altera- 
tions in  Law  13  of  1891,  and  did  not  affect  the  franchise.  The  Kaad 
appointed  a  commission,  and  on  the  8th  of  September  received  its 
report,  together  with  a  draft  law  which  had  not  before  seen  the  light  of 
day.  After  a  discussion  lasting  part  of  one  morning  the  law  was 
passed  provisionally ;  and  to  be  in  full  force  and  effect  until  confirmed 
by  the  Eaad  in  the  following  year.  Thus  again  were  the  fundamental 
political  conditions  entirely  altered  by  the  passing  of  a  law  which  tivo 
hou7's  before  had  not  been  heard  of. 

Law  No.  3  of  1894  purports  to  supersede  all  other  laws.  Therein  it 
is  laid  down  that  all  persons  born  in  the  State,  or  who  may  have 
estabhshed  their  domicile  therem  before  May  29,  1876,  are  entitled  to 
full  political  privileges.  Those  who  have  settled  in  the  country  since 
then  can  become  naturalized  after  two  years'  residence  dating  from  the 
time  at  which  their  names  were  registered  in  the  Field- cornet's  books. 
This  naturalization  confers  the  privilege  of  voting  for  local  officials, 
Field-cornets,  landdrosts,i  and  for  members  of  the  Second  Kaad.  It 
is,  however,  stipulated  that  children  born  in  the  country  shall  take  the 
status  of  their  fathers.  The  naturalized  subject,  after  having  been 
quahfied  to  vote  in  this  manner  for  two  years,  becomes  eligible  for  a 
seat  in  the  Second  Yolksraad — i.e.,  four  years  after  the  registration  of 
his  name  in  the  Field-cornet's  books.  After  he  shall  have  been 
qualified  to  sit  in  the  Second  Volksraad  for  ten  years  (one  of  the  con- 
ditions for  which  is  that  he  must  be  thirty  years  of  age)  he  may  obtain 
the  full  burgher  rights  or  political  privileges,  provided  the  majority  of 
burghers  in  his  Ward  will  signify  in  writing  their  desire  that  he  should 
obtain  them  and  provided  the  President  and  Executive  shall  see  no 
objection  to  granting  the  same.  It  is  thus  clear  that,  assuming  the 
Field- cornet's  records  to  be  honestly  and  properly  compiled  and  to  be 
available  for  reference  (which  they  are  not),  the  immigrant,  after 
fourteen  years'  probation,  during  which  he  shall  have  given  up  his  own 
country  and  have  been  politically  emasculated,  and  havmg  attained  the 
age  of  at  least  forty  years,  would  have  the  privilege  of  obtaining  burgher 
rights  should  he  be  willing  and  able  to  induce  the  majority  of  a  hostile 
clique  to  petition  in  writing  on  his  behalf  and  should  he  then  escape  the 
veto  of  the  President  and  Executive. 

This  was  the  coping-stone  to  Mr.  Kruger's  Chinese  wall.  The 
Uitlanders  and  their  children  were  disfranchised  for  ever,  and  as  far  as 
legislation  could  make  it  sure  the  country  was  preserved  by  entail  to 
the   families   of  the   Voortrekkers.     The   measure   was   only   carried 

^  Except  on  the  goldfields,  where  the  appointments  are  made  by  Govern- 
ment. 


62  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

because  of  the  strenuous  support  given  by  the  President  both  within 
the  Kaad  and  at  those  private  meetings  which  practically  decide  the 
important  business  of  the  country.  The  President  threw  off  all  disguise 
when  it  came  to  proposing  this  measure  of  protection.  For  many 
years  he  had  been  posing  as  the  one  progressive  factor  in  the  State, 
and  had  induced  the  great  majority  of  people  to  believe  that  while  he 
personally  was  willing  and  even  anxious  to  accede  to  the  reasonable 
requests  of  the  new  population  his  burghers  were  restraining  him.  He 
had  for  a  time  succeeded  in  quelling  all  agitation  by  representing  that 
demonstrations  made  by  the  tax-bearing  section  only  embarrassed  him 
in  his  endeavour  to  relieve  them,  and  aggravated  the  position  by  raising 
the  suspicions  and  opposition  of  his  Conservative  faction. 

In  1893  a  petition  signed  by  upwards  of  13,000  aliens  in  favour  of 
granting  the  extension  of  the  franchise  was  received  by  the  Kaad  with 
great  laughter.  But  notwithstanding  this  discouragement,  during  the 
following  year  a  monster  petition  was  got  up  by  the  National  Union. 
It  was  signed  by  35,483  Uitlanders — men  of  an  age  and  of  sufficient 
education  to  qualify  them  for  a  vote  in  any  country.  The  discussion 
which  took  place  on  this  petition  was  so  important,  and  the  decision  so 
pregnant  with  results,  that  copious  notes  of  the  Volksraad  debate  are 
published  in  this  volume  (Appendix  F).  The  only  response  made  to 
this  appeaLwas  a  firmer  riveting  of  the  bonds.  It  is  but  just  to  say 
that  the  President  encountered  determined  opposition  in  his  attempt  to 
force  his  measure  through  the  Kaad.  The  progressive  section  (pro- 
gressive being  a  purely  relative  term  which  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  the  country  alone  can  justify)  made  a  stand,  but  the  law  was  carried 
nevertheless.  Eye-witnesses  of  the  scene  state  that  two  or  three  of  the 
intelligent  and  liberal-minded  farmers  belonging  to  this  progressive 
party,  men  who  were  earnestly  desirous  of  doing  justice  to  all  and 
furthering  the  interests  of  the  State,  declared  at  the  close  of  the  debate 
that  this  meant  the  loss  of  independence.  '  Now,'  said  one  old  Boer, 
'  our  country  is  gone.  Nothing  can  settle  this  but  fighting,  and  there 
is  only  one  end  to  the  fight.  Kruger  and  his  Hollanders  have  taken 
our  independence  more  surely  than  ever  Shepstone  did.'  The  passing 
of  this  measure  was  a  revelation  not  only  to  the  Uitlanders,  who  still 
believed  that  reasonable  representations  would  prevail,  but  to  a  section 
of  the  voters  of  the  country  who  had  failed  to  realize  Mr.  Kruger's 
policy,  and  who  honestly  believed  that  he  would  carry  some  conciliatory 
measures  tending  to  relieve  the  strain,  and  satisfy  the  large  and  ever- 
increasing  industrial  population  of  aliens.  The  measure  was  accepted 
on  all  hands  as  an  ultimatum — a  declaration  of  war  to  the  knife. 
There  was  only  one  redeeming  feature  about  it :  from  that  time 
forward  there  could  be  no  possibility  of  misunderstanding  the  position, 
and  no  reason  to  place  any  credence  in  the  assurances  of  the  President. 
When  remonstrated  with  on  this  subject  of  the  refusal  of  the  franchise, 


AFTER  THE  WAR  63 

and  when  urged  by  a  prominent  man  whose  sympathies  are  wholly 
with  the  Boer  to  consider  the  advisability  of  *  opening  the  door  a  little,' 
the  President,  who  was  in  his  own  house,  stood  up,  and  leading  his 
adviser  by  the  arm,  walked  into  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  pointed 
to  the  Transvaal  flag  flying  over  the  Government  buildings,  saying, 
'  You  see  that  flag  ?  If  I  grant  the  franchise,  I  may  as  well  pull  it 
down.' 

It  is  seldom  possible  to  indicate  the  precise  period  at  which  a 
permanent  change  in  the  feeling  of  a  people  may  be  considered  to  have 
been  effected,  but  the  case  of  the  Uitlanders  undoubtedly  presents  one 
instance  in  which  this  is  possible.  Up  to  the  passing  of  this  law  quite 
a  considerable  section  of  the  people  believed  that  the  President  and  the 
Volksraad  would  listen  to  reason,  and  would  even  in  the  near  future 
make  considerable  concessions.  A  larger  section,  it  is  true,  believed 
nothing  of  the  sort,  but  at  the  same  time  were  so  far  from  thinking 
that  it  would  be  necessary  to  resort  to  extreme  measures  that  they 
were  content  to  remain  passive,  and  allow  their  more  sanguine 
comrades  to  put  their  convictions  to  the  test.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  not  one  person  in  a  hundred  seriously  contemplated  that  an 
appeal  to  force  would  be  necessary  to  obtain  the  concessions  which 
were  being  asked.  It  might  be  said  that  within  an  hour  the  scales 
dropped  from  the  eyes  of  the  too  credulous  community,  and  the  gravity 
of  the  position  was  instantly  realized.  The  passage  of  the  Bill  and  the 
birth  of  the  revolutionary  idea  were  synchronous. 

In  a  brief  sketch  of  events,  such  as  this  is,  it  is  not  possible  with  due 
regard  to  simplicity  to  deal  with  matters  in  chronological  order,  and 
for  this  reason  such  questions  as  the  franchise,  the  railway,  dynamite, 
and  others  have  been  explained  separately,  regardless  of  the  fact  that 
it  has  thereby  become  necessary  to  allude  to  incidents  in  the  general 
history  for  which  no  explanation  or  context  is  supplied  at  the  moment. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  in  the  matter  of  the  franchise,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  throwing  light  on  the  policy  of  which  the  franchise  enact- 
ments and  the  Netherlands  Eailway  affairs  and  other  matters  formed 
a  portion,  some  explanation  should  be  given  of  President  Kruger's  own 
part  and  history  in  the  period  under  review. 

Mr.  Kruger  was  elected  President  in  1882,  and  re-elected  in  1888 
without  serious  opposition,  his  one  rival,  General  Joubert,  receiving  an 
insignificant  number  of  votes.  The  period  for  which  he  was  now 
elected  proved  to  be  one  of  unexpected,  unexampled  prosperity, 
furnishing  him  with  the  means  of  completing  plans  which  must  have 
seemed  more  or  less  visionary  at  their  inception ;  but  it  was  also  a 
period  of  considerable  trial.  The  development  of  the  Barberton  Gold- 
fields  was  a  revelation  to  the  peasant  mind  of  what  the  power  of  gold 
is.  The  influx  of  prospectors  was  very  considerable,  the  increase  of 
the  revenue  of  the  State  appeared  simply  colossal ;  and  no  sooner  did 


64  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

the  Boer  rulers  begin  to  realize  the  signii&cance  of  the  Barberton  boom 
than  they  were  confronted  with  the  incomparable  greater  discoveries 
of  the  Witwatersrand.  The  President  did  not  like  the  Uitlanders.  He 
made  no  concealment  of  the  fact.  He  could  never  be  induced  to 
listen  to  the  petitions  of  that  community,  nor  to  do  anything  in  the 
way  of  roads  and  bridges  in  return  for  the  very  heavy  contributions 
which  the  little  community  sent  to  the  Bepublic's  treasury.  In  those 
days  he  used  to  plead  that  the  distance  was  great,  and  the  time  required 
for  coach-travelling  was  too  considerable ;  but  the  development  of  the 
Witwatersrand  and  the  growth  of  Johannesburg  within  thirty-two 
miles  of  the  capital,  while  disposing  of  the  pretexts  which  held  good  in 
the  case  of  Barberton,  found  Mr,  Kruger  no  more  inclined  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  the  newcomers  than  he  had  been  before.  Notwith- 
standing that  the  law  prescribes  that  the  President  shall  visit  all  the 
districts  and  towns  of  the  State  at  least  once  during  the  year,  notwith- 
standing, also,  the  proximity  of  Johannesburg,  the  President  has  only 
visited  the  industrial  capital  of  the  Republic  three  times  in  nine  years. 
The  first  occasion  was  in  the  early  days— a  visit  now  remembered  only 
as  the  occasion  of  the  banquet  at  which  Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes,  then  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  Rand,  in  proposing  the  President's  health,  appealed 
to  him  to  make  friends  with  the  newcomers,  and  to  extend  the  privi- 
leges of  the  older  residents  to  *  his  young  burghers — like  myself.'  That 
was  before  Mr.  Rhodes  had  secured  his  concession,  and  long  before  the 
Charter  was  thought  of. 

There  is  an  unreported  incident  M^iich  occurred  a  year  or  two  later, 
concerning  the  two  strong  men  of  Africa — it  was  a  'meeting'  which 
didn't  take  place,  and  only  Mr.  Rhodes  can  say  how  it  might  have 
affected  the  future  of  South  Africa  had  it  come  off.  The  latter  arrived 
by  coach  in  Pretoria  one  Saturday  morning,  and,  desiring  to  see  the 
President,  asked  Mr.  Ewald  Esselen  to  accompany  him  and  interpret 
for  him.  Mr.  Rhodes,  knowing  the  peculiar  ways  of  Mr.  Kruger, 
waited  at  the  gate  a  few  yards  from  the  house  while  Mr.  Esselen  went 
in  to  inquire  if  the  President  would  see  him.  Mr.  Kruger's  reply  was 
that  he  would  see  Mr.  Rhodes  on  Monday.  Mr.  Esselen  urged  that  as 
Mr.  Rhodes  was  obliged  to  leave  on  Sunday  night  the  reply  was  tanta- 
mount to  a  refusal.  The  President  answered  that  this  was  '  Nacht- 
maal '  time  and  the  town  was  full  of  his  burghers,  and  that  he  made 
it  a  rule,  which  he  would  violate  for  no  one,  to  reserve  the  Saturdaj^s 
of  the  Nachtmaal  week  for  his  burghers  so  as  to  hear  what  they  had 
to  say  if  any  wished  to  speak  to  him,  as  his  burghers  were  more  to 
him  than  anyone  else  in  the  world.  '  I  do  no  business  on  Sunday,'  he 
concluded,  '  so  Rhodes  can  wait  or  go !'  Mr.  Rhodes  did  not  wait. 
When  he  heard  the  answer  he  remarked  to  Mr.  Esselen,  '  The  old 
devil !  I  meant  to  work  with  him,  but  I'm  not  going  on  my  knees  to 
him.     I've  got  my  concession,  however,  and  he  can  do  nothing.' 


AFTER  THE  WAR  65 

Tlie  second  visit  of  Mr.  Kruger  to  Johannesburg  was  the  famous  one 
of  1890,  when  the  collapse  of  the  share  market  and  the  apparent 
failure  of  many  of  the  mines  left  a  thriftless  and  gambhng  community 
wholly  ruined  and  half  starving,  unable  to  bear  the  burden  which  the 
State  imposed,  almost  wholly  unappreciative  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
Main  Keef,  and  ignorant  of  what  to  do  to  create  an  industry  and 
restore  prosperity.  This,  at  least,  the  community  did  understand,  that 
they  were  horribly  overtaxed  ;  that  those  things  which  might  be  their 
salvation,  and  are  necessary  conditions  for  industrial  prosperity — rail- 
ways, cheap  living,  consistent  and  fair  government — were  not  theirs. 
The  President  visited  Johannesburg  with  the  object  of  giving  the 
assurance  that  railways  would  be  built.  He  addressed  a  crowd  of 
many  thousands  of  people  from  a  platform  at  the  Wanderers'  Club 
pavilion.  He  did  not  conceal  his  suspicions  of  the  people,  and  his 
attempts  to  conceal  his  dislike  were  transparent  and  instantly  detected, 
the  result  being  that  there  was  no  harmony  between  his  Honour  and 
the  people  of  Johannesburg.  Later  in  the  evening  the  crowd,  which 
had  hourly  become  larger  and  more  and  more  excited  and  dissatisfied, 
surrounded  the  house  which  the  President  was  occupying,  and,  without 
desire  to  effect  any  violence,  but  by  simple  pressure  of  numbers,  swept 
in  the  railings  and  pillars  which  enclosed  the  house.  Most  fortunately 
the  Chief  of  Police  had  withdrawn  all  the  Boer  members  of  the  force, 
and  the  crowd,  to  their  surprise,  were  held  back  by  Colonial,  English, 
and  Irish  '  bobbies.'  This  was  probably  the  only  thing  that  prevented 
a  very  serious  culmination.  As  it  was,  some  excited  individuals  pulled 
down  the  Transvaal  flag  from  the  Government  buildings,  tore  it  in 
shreds  and  trampled  it  under  foot.  The  incident  should  have  been 
ignored  under  the  exceptionally  trying  conditions  of  the  time,  but  the 
Government  determined  to  make  much  of  it.  Some  arrests  were 
effected,  and  men  thrown  into  prison.  Bail  was  refused  ;  in  fact, 
'  martyrs '  were  made,  and  the  incident  became  indelibly  stamped  on 
the  memory  of  both  Boer  and  Uitlander.  The  President  vowed  that 
he  would  never  visit  the  place  again,  and  without  doubt  made  use  of 
his  experience  to  consolidate  the  feeling  of  his  burghers  against  the 
Uitlanders. 

At  a  meeting  of  burghers  several  months  after  this  incident  he 
referred  to  the  agitation  and  constant  complaining  of  the  Uitlanders, 
and  stated  that  they  had  only  themselves  to  thank  for  all  their  troubles, 
and  yet  they  would  blame  the  Government.  He  then  proceeded  to 
entertain  his  hearers  with  one  of  the  inevitable  illustrations  from  life 
in  the  lower  animal  kingdom.  '  They  remind  me,'  said  his  Honour, 
•  of  the  old  baboon  that  is  chained  up  in  my  yard.  When  he  burnt  his 
tail  in  the  Kaffir's  fire  the  other  day,  he  jumped  round  and  bit 'me,  and 
that  just  after  I  had  been  feeding  him.'  For  five  years  Mr.  Kruger 
•Y/a,6  as  good  as  his  word.     He  would  not  even  pass  through  Johannes- 

5 


66  THE  TRANSVAAL  FKOM  WITHIN 

burg  when  convenience  suggested  his  doing  so,  but  made  circuits  by 
road  to  avoid  the  place  of  detestation.  It  was  on  one  of  these  visits  to 
Krugersdorp,  a  township  within  the  Witwatersrand  Fields,  twenty 
miles  from  Johannesburg,  that  the  President,  appreciating  the  fact  that 
besides  his  beloved  burghers  there  might,  owing  to  the  proximity  of 
the  fields,  be  some  unregenerate  aliens  present,  commenced  his  address 
as  follows :  *  Burghers,  friends,  thieves,  murderers,  newcomers,  and 
others.'  This  was  not  iU- judged  and  laborious  humour  ;  it  was  said  in 
absolute  earnest.  The  references  were  repeated  at  various  intervals  in 
the  address,  and  here  explained  by  allusions  to  the  Scriptures  and  to 
the  all-merciful  God  through  whom  even  the  worst  might  hope  to  be 
redeemed,  the  inference  clearly  being  that  even  the  Uitlander,  by  the 
grace  of  God  (and  no  doubt  Mr.  Kruger),  might  hope  in  time  to 
approach  the  fitness  of  the  burgher. 

In  the  meantime  another  affair  occurred,  which  revived  much  of  the 
old  feeUng  expressed  at  the  time  of  the  flag  affair.  War  was  declared 
against  Malaboch,  a  native  chief  with  a  following  of  a  few  hundreds, 
who  had,  it  was  alleged,  refused  to  pay  his  taxes.  Such  wars  are  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  the  Transvaal,  the  reasons  assigned  being  usually 
some  failm-e  to  pay  taxes  or  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  Native 
Commissioners.  In  this  case  British  subjects  were  commandeered — 
that  is,  requisitioned  to  fight  or  to  find  in  money  or  in  kind  some  con- 
tribution to  the  carrying  on  of  the  war.  It  was  felt  that  the  position 
of  the  Eepublic  did  not  warrant  at  that  time  a  resort  to  commandeer- 
ing, a  measure  which  no  doubt  was  necessary  in  the  early  days  when  the 
Eepublic  had  no  cash ;  but  with  a  declared  surplus  of  about  igl, 000,000 
in  the  Treasury  it  was  deemed  to  be  an  uncivilized  and  wholly  un- 
necessary measure,  and  one  capable  of  the  grossest  abuse,  to  permit 
men  of  inferior  intelligence  and  training,  and  of  no  education,  such  as 
the  Field-cornets  are,  to  use  their  discretion  in  levying  contributions 
upon  individuals.  The  Uitlanders  were  especially  sensible  of  the  in- 
justice done  to  them.  They  had  been  definitely  refused  all  voice  in  the 
affairs  of  the  State,  and  they  already  contributed  nine-tenths  of  the 
revenue.  They  received  in  return  an  infinitesimal  portion  in  the  shape 
of  civil  administration  and  public  works,  and  they  were  distinctly  not 
in  the  humour  to  be  placed  at  the  mercy  of  Boer  officials,  who  would 
undoubtedly  mulct  them  and  spare  the  burghers.  Protests  were  made ; 
and  five  of  the  men  commandeered  in  Pretoria,  having  point-blank 
refused  to  comply  with  the  orders,  were  placed  under  arrest.  The  High 
Commissioner,  Sir  Henry  (now  Lord)  Loch,  was  appealed  to,  and, 
acting  on  instructions  from  the  Imperial  Government,  immediately 
proceeded  to  Pretoria.  The  excitement  was  intense.  In  Johannesburg 
a  number  of  men  were  prepared  to  make  a  dash  on  Pretoria  to  effect 
the  forcible  release  of  the  prisoners,  and  had  any  steps  been  taken  to 
enforce  the  commandeering  law  within  the  "Witwatersrand  district, 


AFTER  THE  WAR  67 

without  doubt  a  collision  would  have  taken  place.  The  supply  of  arms 
in  the  town  was,  it  is  true,  wholly  inadequate  for  any  resistance  to  the 
Boers,  but  in  the  excitement  of  the  time  this  was  not  considered. 

Sir  Henry  Loch's  visit  had  the  effect  of  suspending  all  action ;  but 
the  opmion  in  Pretoria  was  that  should  the  High  Commissioner  pro- 
ceed  to  Johannesburg  there  would  be  such  an  outburst  of  feeling  that 
no  one  could  foresee  the  results.  Every  effort  was  made  to  prevent 
him  from  going.  Among  other  steps  taken  by  the  President  was  that 
of  sending  over  for  the  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Mines,  Mr.  Lionel 
Phillips,  and  requesting  him,  if  he  had  the  interests  of  the  State  and 
the  welfare  of  the  community  at  heart,  to  use  his  influence  to  dissuade 
the  High  Commissioner  from  visiting  the  town  in  its  then  excited  state. 
Sir  Henry  Loch,  in  deference  to  the  opinion  expressed  on  all  sides, 
agreed  not  to  visit  Johannesburg,  but  to  receive  deputations  from 
Johannesburg  people  at  his  hotel  in  Pretoria.  The  High  Commis- 
sioner's visit  was  successful.  The  Government  agreed  to  absolve 
British  subjects  from  the  operation  of  the  Commando  Law ;  but  the 
men  who  had  been  arrested  and  already  sent  under  guard  to  the  front 
were  allowed  to  proceed  and  receive  their  discharge  at  the  scene  of  war, 
and  were  compelled  to  find  their  own  way  back,  receiving  no  considera- 
tion or  compensation  for  the  treatment  to  which  they  had  been  sub- 
jected. In  this  respect  it  is  difficult  to  say  that  Sir  Henry  Loch 
achieved  all  that  might  have  been  expected  from  him.  Possibly,  to 
insist  on  more  than  he  did  would  have  left  President  Kruger  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  refuse  at  all  risks.  The  Volksraad  being  then  in  session, 
there  may  have  been  some  diplomatic  reasons  for  not  pressmg  matters 
too  hard. 

A  trivial  incident  occurred  which  once  more  excited  bad  party  feeling. 
The  High  Commissioner  was  met  at  the  railway-station  by  the  Pre- 
sident in  his  carriage.  The  enthusiastic  crowd  of  British  subjects 
shouldered  aside  the  escorts  provided  by*the  Government,  took  the 
horses  from  the  carriage,  and  drew  it  down  to  the  hotel.  In  the  course 
of  the  journey  an  individual  mounted  the  box-seat  of  the  carriage  with 
the  Union  Jack  fastened  on  a  bamboo,  and  in  the  excitement  of  the 
moment  allowed  the  folds  of  England's  flag  to  gather  round  the  Pre- 
sident. His  Honour  rose  very  excitedly  and  struck  at  the  flag  with 
his  walking-stick ;  but  in  blissful  ignorance  of  what  was  going  on 
behind  him  the  standard-bearer  continued  to  flip  his  Honour  with  the 
flag  until  the  hotel  was  reached.  There  it  was  understood  that  the 
President  would  leave  the  carriage  with  the  High  Commissioner,  and 
under  this  misapprehension  those  who  had  drawn  the  carriage  down 
left  their  posts  and  joined  the  cheering  crowd  thronging  round  the 
hotel.  The  President  was  unfortmiately  left  in  the  carriage  with 
neither  horses  nor  men  to  move  him,  and  there  he  was  obliged  to  wait 
until  a  number  of  burghers  were  called  up,  who  drew  his  Honoui'  off 

5—2 


68  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

to  his  own  house.  The  affair  was  wholly  unpremeditated  and  almost 
unobserved  at  the  time,  but  it  was  unfortunately  construed  by  the  Pre- 
sident as  a  deliberate  insult,  and  it  increased,  if  possible,  his  dislike  for 
the  Uitlander. 

The  difficulty  of  dealing  with  a  man  of  Mr.  Kruger's  nature  and 
training  was  further  illustrated  by  another  occurrence  in  these  negotia- 
tions. During  a  meeting  between  the  President  and  the  High  Com- 
missioner in  the  presence  of  their  respective  staffs  the  former  became 
very  excited,  and  proceeded  to  speak  his  mind  very  openly  to  his  . 
friends,  referring  freely  to  certain  matters  which  it  was  undesirable  to 
mention  in  the  presence  of  the  British  party.  Mr.  Ewald  Esselen,  the 
late  State  Attorney,  wrote  in  Dutch  in  a  very  large  round  schoolboy 
hand,  'Be  careful  1  there  is  an  interpreter  present,'  and  handed  the 
slip  of  paper  to  the  President.  The  latter  stopped  abruptly,  looked  at 
the  slip  of  paper,  first  one  way  and  then  another,  and  after  a  long 
pause  threw  it  on  the  table,  saying:  'Ewald,  what  does  this  mean? 
What  do  you  write  things  to  me  for  ?  A\Tiy  don't  you  s;peali,  so  that 
one  can  understand  ?' 

Early  in  1895  efforts  were  made  by  the  Dutch  officials  in  Johannes- 
burg and  a  number  of  private  individuals  to  induce  the  President  to 
visit  the  place  again,  when  it  was  thought  that  a  better  reception  would 
be  accorded  him  than  that  which  he  had  experienced  on  his  visit  in 
1890.  Mr.  Kruger  steadily  refused  for  some  time,  but  was  eventually 
persuaded  to  open  in  person  the  first  agricultural  show  held  on  the 
Witwatersrand.  Every  precaution  was  taken  to  insure  him  a  good 
welcome,  or,  at  least,  to  avoid  any  of  those  signs  which  would  indicate 
that  Johannesburg  likes  President  Kruger  no  more  than  he  Hkes 
Johannesburg ;  and  even  those  who  were  most  conscious  of  the  Pre- 
sident's malign  influence  did  all  in  their  power  to  make  the  visit  a 
success,  believing  themselves  to  be  in  duty  bound  to  make  any  effort, 
even  at  the  sacrifice  of  personal  sympathies  and  opinions,  to  turn  the 
current  of  feeling  and  to  work  for  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  unfortunately  seemed  to  be  thickening  all  round.  The 
event  passed  off  without  a  hitch.  It  would  be  too  much  to  say  that 
great  enthusiasm  prevailed;  but,  at  least,  a  respectful,  and  at  times 
even  cordial,  greeting  was  accorded  to  the  President,  and  his  address 
in  the  agricultural  show  grounds  was  particularly  well  received.  The 
President  returned  to  Pretoria  that  night,  and  was  asked  what  he 
thought  of  the  affair  :  '  Did  he  not  consider  it  an  atnende  for  what  had 
happened  five  years  before  ?  And  was  he  not  convinced  from  personal 
observation  that  the  people  of  Johannesburg  were  loyal,  law-abiding, 
and  respectful  to  the  head  of  the  Government  under  which  they  lived?' 
Mr.  Kruger's  reply  in  the  vernacular  in  unprintable ;  but  the  polite 
equivalent  is,  '  Ugh  I  A  pack  of  lick -spittles.'  In  spite  of  a  subsequent 
prom-ulgation,  it  seems  clear  that  there  is  no  'forget  and  forgive'  in 


AFTER  THE  WAR  69 

his  Honour's  attitude  towards  Johannesburg.  The  result  of  this  inter- 
view became  known,  and  naturally  created  a  very  bad  impression. 

During  his  second  term  of  office  Mr.  Kruger  lost  much  of  his  personal 
popularity  and  influence  with  the  Boers,  and  incurred  bitter  opposition 
on  account  of  his  policy  of  favouring  members  of  his  own  clique,  of 
granting  concessions,  and  of  cultivating  the  Hollander  faction  and 
allowing  it  to  dominate  the  State. 

Outside  the  Transvaal  Mr.  Kruger  has  the  reputation  of  being  free 
from  the  taint  of  corruption  from  which  so  many  of  his  colleagues 
suffer.  Yet  within  the  Eepublic  and  among  his  own  people  one  of  the 
gravest  of  the  charges  levelled  against  him  is  that  by  his  example  and 
connivance  he  has  made  himself  responsible  for  much  of  the  plundering 
that  goes  on.  There  are  numbers  of  cases  in  which  the  President's 
nearest  relatives  have  been  proved  to  be  concerned  in  the  most  flagrant 
jobs,  only  to  be  screened  by  his  influence  ;  such  cases,  for  instance,  as 
that  of  the  Vaal  Eiver  Water  Supply  Concession,  in  which  Mr.  Kjcuger's 
son-in-law  '  hawked '  about  for  the  highest  bid  the  vote  of  the  Executive 
Council  on  a  matter  which  had  not  yet  come  before  it,  and,  moreover, 
sold  and  duly  dehvered  the  aforesaid  vote.  There  is  the  famous  libel 
case  in  which  Mr.  Eugene  Marais,  the  editor  of  the  Dutch  paper  Land, 
en  Voile,  successfully  sustained  his  allegation  that  the  President  had 
defrauded  the  State  by  charging  heavy  travelling  expenses  for  a  certain 
trip  on  which  he  was  actually  the  guest  of  the  Cape  Colonial  Govern- 
ment.^ 

The  party  in  opposition  to  President  Kruger,  with  General  Joubert 
at  its  head,  might,  for  purposes  of  nomenclature,  be  called  the  Pro- 
gressive Party.  It  was  really  led  by  Mr.  Ewald  Esselen,  a  highly- 
educated  South  African,  bom  in  the  Cape  Colony  of  German  parentage, 
educated  in  Edinburgh,  and  practising  as  a  barrister  at  the  Pretoria 
Bar.  Mr.  Esselen  was  a  medical  student  at  the  time  of  the  Boer  War 
of  Independence,  and  having  then,  as  he  still  has,  enthusiastic  Boer 
sympathies,  volunteered  for  medical  service  during  the  war.  He  sub- 
sequently became  attached  to  the  President's  staff,  and  finally,  on 
completing  his  legal  education,  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  High  Court 
in  the  Transvaal.  Eelinquishing  his  seat  on  the  Bench  after  some 
years  of  honourable  service,  he  returned  to  the  Bar,  and  became  an 
active  factor  in  politics.  Mr.  Esselen,  from  being  the  closest  personal 
adherent  of  Mr.  Kruger,  became  for  a  time  his  most  formidable 
opponent  and  his  most  dreaded  critic.  A  campaign  was  organized 
for  the  presidential  election,  and  feeling  ran  extremely  high.  To  such 
lengths,  indeed,  did  the  Boer  partisans  go,  that  for  some  months  the 
possibility  of  a  resort  to  arms  for  the  settlement  of  their  differences 
was  freely  discussed  by  both  parties.  The  election  took  place  in  1893, 
and  at  the  same  time  elections  of  members  for  the  First  Volksraad 
i  For  V^olksraad  records  on  this  subject  see  Appendix  0. 


70  THE  TEANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIT^* 

were  in  progress.  Mr.  Kruger  made  masterly  use  of  his  position  in 
office  and  of  his  authority  over  the  officials  appointed  during  his 
regime,  and  for  the  time  being  he  converted  the  Civil  Service  of  the 
country  into  an  election  organization.  Not  even  the  enemies  of  the 
President  will  deny  that  he  is  both  a  practised  diplomat  and  a  deter- 
mined fighter.  By  his  energy,  intrigue,  personal  influence,  and  intense 
determination,  he  not  only  compelled  his  party  to  the  highest  effort, 
but  to  a  large  extent  broke  the  spirit  of  the  opposition  before  the  real 
struggle  began.  There  are  two  stages  in  the  Presidential  election  at 
which  a  fight  can,  imder  certain  circumstances,  be  made.  There  were 
certainly  two  stages  in  this  election.  The  first  is  at  the  polls ;  the 
second  is  in  the  Volksraad,  when  objections  have  to  be  lodged  against 
candidates  and  a  commission  of  investigation  appointed,  and  the  steps 
necessary  for  the  installation  of  the  new  President  have  to  be  discussed. 
Mr.  Kruger  and  his  party  took  ample  precautions.  It  has  been  stated 
openly  and  without  contradiction,  and  is  accepted  in  the  Transvaal  as 
an  unquestionable  fact,  that  at  least  three  properly  elected  members  of 
the  Vollisraad  were  '  jockeyed '  out  of  their  seats  because  they  were 
known  to  have  leanings  towards  General  Joubert.  A  number  of  his 
supporters  among  the  prominent  officials  of  the  Civil  Service  were 
disfranchised  by  the  action  of  President  Kruger  because  they  had 
favoured  his  rival.  In  a  country  where  the  matters  of  Government 
have  been  so  loosely  conducted,  it  is  no  doubt  fairly  easy  to  find  flaws, 
and  the  President  experienced  no  difficulty  in  establishing  a  sufficient 
case  against  General  Joubert's  supporters  to  satisfy  the  persons 
appointed  by  him  to  investigate  matters.  On  various  pretexts,  newly- 
elected  members  were  debarred  from  taking  their  seats.  In  one  case, 
a  strong  supporter  of  General  Joubert,  who  was  returned  by  a  majority 
of  something  like  six  to  one,  was  kept  out  of  his  seat  by  the  mere 
lodging  of  an  objection  by  his  opponent,  the  former  representative  of 
the  constituency ;  there  being  a  provision  in  the  law  that  objections 
with  regard  to  elections  shall  be  heard  by  the  Volksraad,  and  that, 
pending  the  return  of  a  new  member,  the  member  last  elected  for  the 
constituency  shall  continue  to  represent  it.  That  the  objection  lodged 
in  this  case  was  ridiculous  in  the  extreme  had  no  bearing  on  the  imme- 
diate result.  The  President,  with  admirable  gravity,  said,  '  The  law 
provides  that  all  objections  must  be  heard  by  the  Volksraad,  and  that 
pending  the  decision  the  old  member'  (a  strenuous  supporter  of  his 
Honour)  •  shall  retain  his  seat ;  and  before  all  things  we  must  support 
the  law.'  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Esselen,  who  was  elected  Member  for 
Potchefstroom,  the  most  flagrant  abuses  were  proved  to  have  been 
committed  by  the  polling  officer,  the  landdrost,  dead  and  absent  men 
having  (according  to  him)  rolled  up  freely  to  vote  for  the  Krugerite 
candidate.  Numbers  of  Mr.  Esselen's  supporters  were  disqualified  on 
various  pretexts,  and  the  voting  being  conducted  openly,  the  moral 


AFTER  THE  WAR  71 

suasion  and  close  supervision  of  the  official  (Krugerite)  party  were  very 
effective.  Mr.  Esselen  was  declared  to  have  lost  his  seat  by  seven 
votes.  Scrutinies  were  demanded  and  objections  lodged,  but  without 
avail.  The  tactics  above  indicated  were  pursued  in  every  case.  The 
old  Volksraad  having  been  filled  with  Mr.  Kruger's  creatures,  it  was, 
of  course,  his  interest  to  support  the  return  of  old  members.  He  was 
thus  enabled,  by  the  law  above  quoted,  to  retain  an  old  member  in  the 
Volksraad  pending  the  decision  in  a  case  of  dispute.  Mr.  Esselen's 
defeat  was  a  crushing  blow  to  the  Joubert  party,  as  the  want  of  a 
leader  in  the  House  itself  completely  demoralized  the  General's 
followers.  The  election  for  President  pr^oceeded,  and  General  Joubert 
was,  without  any  doubt  whatever,  elected  by  a  very  considerable 
majority.  The  tactics  already  described  were  again  followed,  and  the 
result  was  announced  as :  Kruger,  7,881 ;  Joubert,  7,009.  Objections 
were  lodged  by  General  Joubert,  but,  deprived  of  the  services  of  Mr 
Esselen  in  the  First  Eaad,  and  overawed  by  the  fierce  determination 
of  his  opponent,  the  General,  finding  himself  in  for  a  struggle,  lost 
heart  as  usual  and  collapsed. 

The  difference  between  the  two  men  is  remarkable.  Mr.  Kruger,  to 
his  credit  be  it  said,  has  not  the  remotest  conception  of  the  meaning  of 
fear,  and  would  not  know  how  to  begin  to  give  in.  Mr.  Joubert, 
•  Slim  (sly)  Piet,'  as  he  is  called,  possessing  a  considerable  share  of 
the  real  Africander  cunning,  is  yet  no  match  for  his  rival  in  diplomacy, 
and  has  none  of  his  grit  and  courage.  In  later  years  this  has  been 
proved  a  score  of  times,  and  it  is,  therefore,  the  more  interesting  to 
recall  that  at  the  time  of  the  annexation  General  Joubert  refused  to 
compromise  his  principles  by  taking  office  under  Shepstone,  whilst 
Mr.  Kruger  was  not  so  stanch ;  and  both  before  and  during  the  war 
General  Joubert  refused  to  accept  less  than  what  he  considered  to  be 
his  rights,  and  steadily  and  frequently  proclaimed  his  readiness  to 
fight  whilst  Mr.  Kj.-uger  was  diplomatizing. 

The  Commission  appointed  by  the  Eaad  to  investigate  matters  was 
constituted  chiefly  of  Mr.  Kruger's  supporters,  and  the  result  was  a 
foregone  conclusion.  They  confirmed  the  result  of  the  election  as 
declared;  and  Mr.  Kruger,  with  the  grim  humour  which  upon  occasions 
distinguishes  him,  seeing  an  opportunity  for  inexpensive  magnanimity 
which  would  gratify  himself  and  be  approved  by  everyone — except  the 
recipients — appointed  the  most  prominent  supporters  of  his  rival  in  the 
Volksraad  to  be  the  official  deputation  to  welcome  the  new  President. 

The  President  did  not  neglect  those  who  had  stood  by  him  in  his 
hour  of  need.  Mr.  Kock,  landdrost  and  polling- officer  of  Potchef- 
stroom,  who  had  deserved  well  of  his  patron,  if  for  nothing  more  than 
the  overthrow  of  Mr.  Esselen,  was  appointed  member  of  the  Executive 
to  fill  a  position  created  purposely  for  him.  The  membership  of  the 
Executive  is  expressly  defined  by  the  Grondwet;  but  his  Honour  is 


72  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

not  trammelled  by  such  considerations.  He  created  the  position  of 
Minute  Keeper  to  the  Executive  with  a  handsome  salary  and  a  right 
to  vote,  and  bestowed  this  upor.  his  worthy  henchman. 

The  Executive  Council  thus  constituted  consisted  of  six  members ; 
and  here  again  the  President  contrived  to  kill  two  birds  with  one 
stone,  the  expression  of  his  gratitude  being  by  no  means  unprofitable. 
After  so  bitter  a  struggle  and  the  resort  to  such  extreme  measures  as 
he  had  been  obliged  to  use,  he  anticipated  no  little  opposition  even 
within  the  inner  circle,  and,  in  any  case,  he  as  usual  deemed  it  wise 
tp  provide  against  all  contingencies.  Dr.  Leyds'  vote  he  knew  he 
could  count  on,  the  interests  of  the  party  which  the  State  Secretary 
represents  being  such  that  they  are  obliged  to  work  with  Mr.  Kruger. 
The  appointment,  therefore,  of  Mr.  Kock  gave  his  Honour  one  half  of 
the  Executive,  and  the  casting-vote  which  pertains  to  his  office  turned 
the  scale  in  his  favour.  Whatever,  therefore,  might  be  his  troubles 
with  the  Volksraad  when,  by  process  of  justice,  reform,  or  death  his 
adherents  should  be  gradually  removed  from  that  Chamber,  his  posi- 
tion was,  humanly  speaking,  assured  in  the  Executive  Council  for  the 
term  of  his  office. 

The  opposition  to  Mr.  Kock's  appointment  was  extremely  strong, 
culminating  in  the  formulation  of  charges  of  theft  against  him  by 
Mr.  Eugene  Marais,  the  spirited  editor  of  the  leading  Dutch  paper, 
Lcvnd  en  Voile,  The  charge  alleged  against  Mr.  Kock  was  that  durirfg 
his  term  of  office  as  landdrost  at  Potchefstroom  he  had  appropriated 
the  telegraph-wires  in  order  to  fence  his  own  farm.  Feeling  ran  so 
high  that  it  became  necessary  to  hold  an  investigation.  A  trial  in  the 
ordinary  courts  was  not  permitted,  but  a  Special  Commissioner,  one 
not  qualified  by  legal  experience  or  official  position  to  preside  in  such 
a  case,  was  selected.  By  a  positively  ludicrous  exercise  of  discretion 
in  the  matter  of  admission  of  evidence,  Mr.  Kock  was  cleared.  Mr. 
Marais,  nothing  daunted,  continued  his  exposures,  challenging  that 
action  should  be  taken  against  himself  for  libel,  and  finally  producing 
photographs  taken  by  competent  witnesses  showing  the  corpus  delicti 
in  situ.  The  President  and  Mr.  Kock  were  not  to  be  drawn,  however, 
and,  secure  in  their  newly-acquired  positions,  they  declined  the  offer 
of  battle  and  rested  on  their  laurels. 

For  some  time  the  Opposition,  now  called  the  Progressive  Party, 
was  completely  demoralized,  and  it  was  not  until  the  following  year 
that  individuals  again  endeavoured  to  give  cohesion  to  the  party. 
Appeals  were  made  by  them  to  prominent  individuals  and  firms 
associated  with  the  mining  industry  for  financial  support  in  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  contributed  in  England  for  electioneering 
purposes.  A  determined  and  well- sustained  effort  was  made  to 
educate  Boer  opinion  to  better  things,  and  to  bring  such  influence  to 
bear  on  the  electorate  as  would  result  in  the  return  of  a  better  class 


AFTER  THE  WAR  73 

of  men  to  the  Volksraad.  Newspapers  conducted  with  this  end  in 
view  were  circulated  throughout  the  country,  and  when  the  elections 
for  the  Volksraad  took  place,  specially  qualified  agents  were  sent  to 
ascertain  the  feeling  of  the  districts,  and  to  work  up  an  opposition  to 
the  existing  methods  of  Government.  In  every  case  endeavours  were 
made  to  select  a  popular  resident  within  a  district  of  more  enlight- 
ened views  and  higher  character  than  his  fellows.  A  good  many 
thousand  pounds  were  contributed  and  expended  for  this  purpose. 
Absolutely  no  stipulation  was  made  by  the  contributors  to  this  fund, 
except  that  the  aim  should  be  for  honest  and  decent  government.  The 
funds  were  placed  unreservedly  in  the  hands  of  well-known  and  highly 
respected  men  who  were  themselves  burghers  of  the  State,  and  the 
Uitlanders  laid  themselves  out  for  one  more  effort  to  effect  the  reforms 
by  peaceful  means  and  pressure  from  within  the  State.  The  elections 
came  off,  and  were  regarded  as  a  triumph  for  the  Progressive  Party, 
which  it  was  alleged  had  secured  some  sixteen  out  of  twenty-six  seats 
in  the  First  Volksraad,  and  a  similar  majority  in  the  Second.  Hope 
revived  and  confidence  was  restored  among  the  Uitlanders,  but  old 
.residents  in  the  country  who  knew  the  Boer  character  warned  the 
alien  community  not  to  expect  too  much,  as  it  was  a  question  yet  to 
be  decided  how  many  of  those  who  were  Progressives  at  the  time  of 
the  election  would  stand  by  their  professions  when  brought  face  to 
face  with  the  President  and  his  party  in  battle  array. 

The  warning  was  too  well  warranted.  The  Volksraad  so  constituted 
was  the  one  which  rejected  with  sullen  incivility  (to  apply  no  harsher 
term)  the  petition  of  40,000  Uitlanders  for  some  measure  of  franchise 
reform.  This  Progressive  Eaad  was  also  the  one  which  passed  the 
Bills  curtailing  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  prohibiting  the  holding 
of  public  meetings  and  the  organization  of  election  committees,  and 
which  distinguished  itself  by  an  attempt  to  wrest  from  the  High  Court 
the  decision  of  a  matter  still  sub  judice — the  cyanide  case. 

In  this  case  the  mining  industry  had  combined  to  test  the  validity 
of  certain  patents.^  In  spite  of  attempts  at  reasonable  compromise  on 
behalf  of  the  mines,  and  these  failing,  in  spite  of  every  effort  made  to 
expedite  the  hearing  of  the  case,  the  question  contmued  to  hang  for 
some  years,  and  in  the  meantime  efforts  were  being  made  during  two 
successive  sessions  of  the  Volksraad  to  obtain  the  passage  of  some 
measure  which  would  practically  secure  to  the  holders  of  the  patents 
a  monopoly  for  the  use  of  cyanide,  or  an  indefeasible  title  to  the 
patents,  whether  valid  in  law  and  properly  acquired  or  not.  These 
attempts  to  evade  the  issue  were  in  themselves  a  disgrace  to  a  civilized 
nation.     Failing  the  obtaining  of  an  absolute  monopoly,  an  endeavour 

^  Tlie  decision  of  the  High  Coiu't  was  given  in  November,  1896,  in  favour 
of  the  combined  companies  on  all  points,  and  the  patents  were  thus  declared 
to  be  invalid ! 


74  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

was  made  to  pass  a  law  that  all  patents  held  without  dispute  for  a 
certain  period  should  be  unassailable  on  any  grounds.  There  was  a 
thin  attempt  at  disguising  the  purpose  of  this  measure,  but  so  thin, 
that  not  even  the  originators  could  keep  up  the  pretence,  and  the 
struggle  was  acknowledged  to  be  one  between  the  supporters  of  an 
independent  court  of  justice  and  honest  government  on  the  one  side, 
and  a  party  of  would-be  concessionnaires — one  might  say  *  pirates ' — on 
the  other.  The  judges  made  no  secret  of  their  intention  to  tender  their 
resignations  should  the  measure  pass ;  the  President  made  no  secret 
of  his  desire  that  it  should  pass.  His  party  voted  as  one  man  in 
favour  of  it,  and  the  coffee  meetings  on  the  Presidential  stoep  were 
unanimously  for  it.  The  Eaad  was  exactly  divided  on  the  measure, 
and  it  was  eventually  lost  by  the  casting-vote  of  the  chairman.  No 
absolute  harm  was  done,  but  the  revelation  of  the  shameful  conditions 
of  affairs  in  a  Eaad  of  which  so  much  good  was  expected  did  as  much 
as  anything  could  do  to.  destroy  all  hope.  It  was  a  painful  exhibition, 
and  the  sordid  details  which  came  to  light,  the  unblushing  attempts  to 
levy  blackmail  on  those  who  were  threatened  with  pillage  by  would-be 
concessionnah'es,  the  shameless  conduct  of  Eaad  members  fighting  as 
hirelings  to  impose  a  fresh  burden  on  their  own  country,  sickened  the 
overburdened  community. 

The  Bewaarplaatsen  question  also  excited  much  discussion,  but  was 
not  a  subject  of  such  close  interest  to  the  Uitlander  community  as 
others,  for  the  reason  that  but  few  companies  were  directly  concerned. 
Bewaarplaatsen  is  a  name  given  to  areas  granted  for  the  purpose  of 
conservation  of  water,  for  depositing  residues  of  crushed  ore,  etc. — in 
fact,  they  are  grants  of  the  surface-rights  of  certain  areas  at  a  lower 
rate  of  license  than  that  paid  upon  claim  or  mineral  areas.  This 
variation  in  the  licensed  areas  was  a  wholly  unnecessary  complication 
of  the  gold  law,  the  difference  in  cost  being  inconsiderable,  and  the 
difference  in  title  affording  untold  possibilities  of  lawsuits.  In  some 
cases  companies  had  taken  out  originally  the  more  expensive  claim- 
licenses  for  ground  the  surface  only  of  which  it  was  intended  to  use. 
They  had  been  compelled,  by  order  of  the  Government,  to  convert 
these  claims  at  a  later  period  into  bewaarplaatsen.  They  were  almost 
invariably  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Witwatersrand  Main  Eeef, 
for  the  reason  that,  as  the  ground  sloped  to  the  south,  the  water  was 
found  there,  the  mills  would  naturally  be  erected  there,  and  the  in- 
clination of  the  ground  offered  tempting  facilities  for  the  disposal  of 
residues.  After  some  years  of  development  on  the  Main  Eeef  it 
became  clear  that  the  banket  beds,  which  were  known  to  dip  towards 
the  south,  became  gradually  flatter  at  the  lower  levels,  and,  consequently, 
it  was  clear  that  bodies  of  reef  would  be  accessible  vertically  from 
areas  south  of  the  reef  which  had  formerly  been  regarded  as  quite 
worthless  as  gold-bearing  claims.     The  companies  which  owned  these 


AFTER  THE  WAR  75 

bewaarplaatsen  now  contended  that  tliey  should  be  allowed  to  convert 
them  into  claims,  as,  by  their  enterprise,  they  had  exploited  the  upper 
levels  and  revealed  the  conditions  which  made  the  bewaarplaatsen 
valuable.  The  companies  had  endeavoured  to  convert  these  bewaar- 
plaatsen into  claims  when  they  first  discovered  that  there  was  a 
possibility  of  their  becoming  valuable,  and  that  at  a  time  when  the  areas 
themselves  were  of  extremely  little  market  value  to  any  except  the 
holders  of  the  surface  rights.  They  were  unsuccessful  in  this  through 
some  lack  of  provision  in  the  law,  and  year  after  year  the  subject  was 
fought  out  and  postponed,  the  disputed  ground  all  the  time  becoming 
more  and  more  valuable,  and  consequently  a  greater  prize  for  the 
concessionnaire  and  pirate,  and  a  greater  incentive  to  bribery  on  all 
hands,  until  it  came  to  be  regarded  by  the  worthy  members  of  the 
Volksraad  as  something  very  like  a  special  dispensation  of  Providence, 
intended  to  provide  annuities  for  Volksraad  members  at  the  expense  of 
the  unfortunate  owners.  After  a  particularly  fierce  struggle,  the 
Volksraad  went  so  far  as  to  decide  that  those  companies  which  had 
been  obliged  to  convert  their  original  claim-holdings  into  bewaar- 
plaatsen should  be  allowed  to  re -convert  them  to  claims  and  to  retain 
them.  Even  this  was  only  gained  after  the  Minister  of  Mines  had,  on 
his  own  responsibility,  issued  the  claim  licenses,  and  so  forced  the 
Volksraad  to  face  the  issue  of  confirming  or  reversing  his  action  ! 

In  this  matter  the  President  again  fought  tooth  and  nail  against  the 
industry,  and  most  strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  him  and  his  party 
to  obtain  a  reversal  of  the  decision,  but  without  effect.  This,  however, 
only  disposed  of  a  small  portion  of  the  ground  at  stake.  With  regard 
to  those  areas  which  had  never  been  held  as  claims,  the  issue  lay 
between  two  parties  known  respectively  as  the  companies,  who  were 
the  surface-owners,  and  the  applicants.  The  applicants,  according  to 
the  polite  fiction,  were  those  who,  having  no  claim  superior  to  that  of 
any  other  individual  member  of  the  public,  had  happened  to  have 
priority  in  order  of  application.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  were 
Government  officials,  political  supporters  and  relatives  of  the  President, 
financed  and  guided  by  two  or  three  of  the  professional  concession- 
hunters  and  hangers-on  of  Mr.  Kruger's  Government.  Notwith- 
standing the  existence  of  a  law  specifically  prohibiting  Government 
servants  from  concerning  themselves  in  other  business  and  specula- 
tions, the  parties  to  this  arrangement  entered  into  notarial  contracts 
determining  the  apportionment  of  the  plunder,  and  undertaking  to  use 
their  influence  in  every  way  with  the  President  and  his  party  and  with 
members  of  the  Volksraad  to  secure  the  granting  of  the  rights  in 
dispute  to  themselves.  "With  them  was  associated  the  originator  and 
holder  of  another  infamous  monopoly,  and  it  was  stated  by  him  in  the 
Chamber  of  Mines  that  should  they  fail  to  obtain  these  rights  for 
themselves,  they  were  prepared  to  co-operate  with  another  party  and 


76  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

force  the  Government  to  put  them  up  for  public  auction,  so  that  at 
any  rate  the  mines  should  not  have  them.  The  object  of  this  threat 
was  to  compel  the  mining  companies  to  come  to  terms  with  him  and 
compromise  matters. 

One  of  the  notarial  contracts  referred  to  has  been  made  public,  and 
it  contains  the  names  of  Mr.  '  Koos '  Smit,  the  Government  Kailway 
Commissioner,  and  one  of  the  highest  officials  in  the  State ;  Landdrost 
Schutte,  Chief  Magistrate  of  Pretoria,  and  Mr.  Hendrik  Schoeman, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  commandants  in  the  Transvaal,  and  a  near 
relation  of  the  President.  Needless  to  say,  all  are  members  of  the 
Kruger  family  party,  and  were  most  promment  supporters  of  his 
Honour  at  the  time  of  the  1893  election.  They  claim  that  they  were 
definitely  promised  a  concession  for  the  bewaarplaatsen  as  a  reward 
for  their  services  in  this  election.  The  precedent  quoted  on  behalf  of 
the  companies  in  support  of  their  claim  is  that  of  the  brickmaker's 
license  under  the  Gold  Law.  Brickmakers  have  privileges  under  their 
license  similar  to  those  granted  with  bewaarplaatsen,  but  in  their  case 
it  is  provided  that  should  gold  be  discovered  or  be  believed  to  exist  in 
the  areas  granted  under  their  licenses,  the  holder  of  the  license  shall 
have  the  right  to  convert  his  area  into  mining  claims  on  complying 
with  the  ordinary  provisions  of  the  Gold  Law.  The  companies  urged 
that  this  reveals  the  intention  of  the  law,  and  that  such  a  condition 
was  omitted  in  connection  with  bewaarplaatsen  simply  and  solely 
through  oversight,  and  because  at  that  time  it  never  occurred  to  any- 
one to  suppose  that  the  gold-bearing  deposits  would  shelve  off  and  be 
accessible  at  such  great  distances  from  the  outcrop  as  where  the 
bewaarplaatsen  are  located.  The  companies,  moreover,  pointed  out 
that  these  areas  were  in  every  case  located  in  the  middle  of  property 
held  under  mining  licenses,  that  they  themselves  owned  the  surface  of 
the  property  and  therefore  no  one  else  could  work  on  them,  that  the  areas 
were  in  themselves  too  small  and  too  irregular  in  shape  to  be  worked 
independently  of  the  surrounding  ground,  and  that  the  granting  of 
them  to  others  could  not  be  justified  by  any  right  on  the  part  of 
applicants,  and  would  merely  be  placing  in  their  hands  the  means 
of  imposing  on  the  owners  of  the  surfaces  and  the  adjacent  claims  an 
excessive  purchase  price  or  the  alternative  of  being  blocked  in  the 
development  of  their  own  ground.  After  the  Second  Eaad  had  decided 
in  principle  in  favour  of  the  surface  holders,  action  was  taken  by  the 
First  Raad,  and  a  change  of  front  was  effected  by  a  measure  alteration, 
which  hung  the  question  up  for  another  year.  Everyone  realized  that 
this  was  secured  by  the  influence  of  the  President  in  the  first  place 
and  by  the  pliability  of  Raad  members  in  the  second,  on  the  ground 
that  the  matter  was  too  profitable  to  them  personally  to  be  disposed  of 
until  it  became  absolutely  compulsory .1 

1  During  the  session  of  '96  the  Volksraad  decided  to  put  the  bewaarplaatsen 
up  for  public  auction,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  to  be  divided  equally  between 


AFTER  THE  WAR  77 

One  of  the  first  concessions  granted  by  the  Boer  Government  after 
the  restoration  of  the  country  to  them  was  the  liquor  monopoly. 
Under  this  grant  a  factory  established  withitf  a  few  miles  of  Pretoria 
has  the  sole  right  to  distil  spirits.  Time  and  very  considerable  ex- 
perience are  in  all  countries  necessary  for  the  manufacture  of  good 
liquor,  and  the  natural  conditions  are  not  more  favourable  to  the 
industry  in  the  Transvaal  than  elsewhere,  consequently  the  product  is 
not  regarded  with  great  favour.  The  enterprise,  however,  is  a  very 
prosperous  one,  being  dependent  almost  entirely  upon  the  sale  of 
liquor  to  natives.  For  a  number  of  years  representations  were  made 
by  the  Chamber  of  Mines  on  behalf  of  the  industry,  by  individuals 
and  by  public  petitions,  with  the  object  of  controlling  the  liquor  trade 
and  properly  enforcing  the  laws  which  already  existed.  The  following 
terse  summary  of  the  evils  resulting  from  this  sale  of  liquor  is  taken 
from  the  report  of  the  Chamber  of  Mines  for  1895.  Unfortunately,  the 
remarks  apply  equally  well  to-day  : 

There  is,  indeed,  no  doubt  that  oue  of  the  greatest  difficulties  with  which 
local  employers  have  to  deal  is  the  question  of  the  liquor  trade.     In  very 


the  Government  and  the  original  owners  of  the  farms  on  which  the  bewaar- 
plaatsen  had  been  granted.  The  alleged  reason  for  this  decision  is  that  the 
areas  in  question  are  immensely  valuable,  and  the  State  and  the  owners 
should  profit  by  them,  whilst  the  companies  should  be  aftbrded  an  opportunity 
of  acquiring  them  at  a  fair  price.  The  real  reason  is  that  the  companies  had 
refused  to  be  blackmailed  further ;  and  the  'defence'  funds  not  being  forth- 
coming, the  gentlemen  of  the  back-stairs  had  introduced  the  ingenious 
arrangement  safeguarding  the  original  owners'  rights,  having  previously 
'  arranged '  with  the  same  owners.  The  excuse  that  the  areas  are  too  valuable 
to  be  given  away  to  the  companies  is  as  illogical  and  ridiculous  as  the  excuse 
that  the  Uitlanders  are  too  numerous  to  justify  the  granting  of  the  franchise 
now.  "When  the  questions  were  first  raised  there  were  neither  great  values 
nor  large  numbers  in  existence.  They  were  questions  of  principle  and 
justice  ;  and  the  fact  that  '  values '  and  '  numbers '  have  gi-own  during  the 
years  of  struggle  in  no  way  justifies  the  course  taken,  but  rather  shows  very 
clearly  the  magnitude  of  the  injustice  done  dming  the  years  of  unjustifiable 
denial. 

This  decision  shows  with  admirable  clearness  how  the  Uitlander  fares  at 
the  hands  of  the  Government.  There  were,  in  the  last  stage  of  the  affair, 
four  parties  concerned  :  the  Government,  who  are  by  law  expressly  debarred 
from  selling  claims  (except  in  case  of  over-due  licenses),  and  are  obliged  to 
allot  them  for  the  consideration  of  specified  license  fees  only  ;  the  owners  of 
the  farms,  who  are  similarly  debarred,  and  are  compensated  in  other  ways  for 
the  throwing  open  of  theh  farms  ;  the  '  applicants,'  who  have  been  described 
elsewhere  ;  and  the  surface -owners,  the  mining  companies,  who  were  in  posses- 
sion. Only  one  of  these  parties  had  the  slenderest  claim  to  compensation — 
namely,  the  companies,  who  must  inevitably  be  disturbed  in  the  possession  of 
the  surface  by  allowing  others  to  work  on  or  under  it.  But  they  get  nothing  ; 
whilst  the  Government  and  the  *  owner '  (both  of  whom  had  years  before 
derived  the  fullest  profit  allowed  by  law  from  these  areas  in  the  form  of 
licenses),  and  the  '  applicants '  (who  have  allied  themselves  with  the  '  owners '), 
divide  as  compensation  the  proceeds  of  the  auction  ! 


78  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

many  cases  the  liquor  supplied  to  the  natives  is  of  the  vilest  quality,  quickly 
inflaming  those  wlio  take  it  to  madness,  and  causing  the  faction  fights  which 
sometimes  have  fatal  results,  and  always  lead  to  the,  at  any  rate  temporary, 
disablement  of  some  of  the  combatants,  and  the  damaging  of  property. 
Accidents,  too,  are  often  attributable  to  the  effects  of  drink,  and  altogether, 
as  stated  in  the  resolutions,  a  large  percentage  of  the  deaths  among  the 
natives  here  is  directly  due  to  drink.  In  its  bearing  on  the  labour  question, 
drink  also  plays  an  important  part.  The  shortness  in  the  supply,  as  com- 
pared with  the  demand  for  labour,  has  been  accentuated  by  it.  Where 
possible  more  natives  are  kept  in  the  compounds  than  are  actually  required 
for  the  work  to  be  done,  to  make  allowance  for  those  who  are  disabled  by 
drink. 

The  granting  of  licenses  to  liquor  houses  was  carried  to  such  an 
extreme  that  at  last  the  entire  community  rose  against  it,  and  the 
expression  of  opinion  was  so  strong  that  the  Government  was  compelled 
to  make  a  show  of  deferring  to  it.  Involved  in  the  liquor  question  was 
the  matter  of  police,  and  arising  out  of  this,  again,  was  the  question  of 
dealing  with  crime  in  general,  including  the  gold  and  amalgam  stealing 
that  was  known  to  be  carried  on  on  a  considerable  scale  at  the  expense 
of  the  companies. 

The  Attorney-General,  or  State  Attorney,  as  he  is  called  in  the 
Transvaal,  is  the  responsible  head  of  the  Law  Department,  and  until 
lately  was  the  departmental  head  of  the  police.  The  gentleman  then 
occupying  the  position  of  State  Attorney  was  peculiarly  unfit — in  the 
midst  of  that  world  of  unfitness — for  the  duties  which  he  was  supposed 
to  perform.  He  was  removed  from  office,  and  after  considerable 
negotiation  Mr.  Esselen  was  prevailed  upon,  at  a  great  monetary 
sacrifice,  to  accept  the  position  of  State  Attorney,  he  stipulating  that  he 
should  have  a  free  hand  in  reorganizing  the  detective  and  police  forces. 
During  the  months  in  which  Mr.  Esselen  continued  in  office  admirable 
reforms  were  introduced,  and  a  very  appreciable  influence  was  exercised 
on  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Johannesburg.  It  is  inadvisable  to  state 
explicitly  the  nature  of  the  objections  which  existed  against  some  of 
the  officials  employed  under  the  former  regime ;  it  is  sufficient  that 
they  were  proved  to  be  participators  in  the  offences  which  they  were 
specially  employed  to  suppress.  Mr.  Esselen's  first  step  was  to  appoint 
as  chief  detective  an  officer  borrowed  from  the  Cape  Colonial  Govern- 
ment, Mr.  Andrew  Trimble,  who  in  a  very  little  while  showed  that 
courage  and  honesty  of  purpose  could  not  only  effect  considerable 
reforms,  but  could  provoke  the  undisguised  and  fierce  hostility  of  a  very 
large  section  of  the  community.  The  canteen-keepers  were  up  in  arms  ; 
the  illicit  gold- buyers  left  no  stone  unturned ;  the  hangers-on  of  the 
Government  lost  no  opportunity  in  their  campaign  against  Mr.  Esselen 
and  his  subordinate  and  their  reforms.  The  liveliest  satisfaction,  how- 
ever, was  expressed  by  ail  those  whose  interest  it  was  to  have  matters 
conducted  decently  and  honestly,  and  who  had  no  interest  in  crime 


AFTER  THE  WAR  79 

except  so  far  as  its  suppression  was  concerned,  Eepresentation  was 
secured  for  the  Chamber  of  Mines  upon  one  of  the  licensing  bodies, 
and  here,  too,  a  very  appreciable  result  followed.  During  Mr.  Esselen's 
term  of  office  all  went  well  as  far  as  the  public  were  concerned,  but 
influences  were  soon  at  work  to  undermine  the  two  reforming  officials. 
It  was  represented  to  the  President  that  Mr.  Trimble  had  once  been  in 
the  British  army ;  that  he  was  even  then  a  subject  of  the  Queen,  and 
entitled  to  a  pension  from  the  Cape  Government.  The  canteen  interest 
on  the  goldfields,  playing  upon  the  prejudices  of  the  Boers,  represented 
that  this  was  unfitting  the  dignity  of  the  Republic.  The  President, 
who  was  too  shrewd  to  be  caught  with  such  chaff,  was  perfectly  ready 
to  support  them  for  the  sake  of  the  liquor  interest,  which  for  him  con- 
stitutes a  very  useful  electioneering  and  political  agency  throughout  the 
country.  Mr.  Esselen  was  sent  for,  and  it  was  represented  to  him  by 
the  President  that  the  employment  of  a  British  subject  in  such  a  re- 
sponsible office  as  that  of  chief  detective  was  repugnant  to  the  burghers. 
The  reply  was  that  it  was  competent  for  the  Executive  to  naturalize 
Mr.  Trimble  at  once,  and  so  remove  the  objection,  the  Government 
having  power  in  special  cases  to  dispense  with  the  conditions  of  the 
Naturalization  Law — a  power  frequently  exercised  in  the  case  of  their 
Hollander  friends.  The  President,  in  reply,  stated  that  it  could  not  be 
done,  and  he  appealed  to  Mr.  Esselen  to  select  a  man  of  another 
nationality — '  a  Frenchman,  German,  or  even  an  American  ' — this  last 
being  a  concession  wrung  from  him  by  Mr.  Esselen's  soothing  sugges- 
tion that  the  Chief  of  Police  should  be  familiar  with  the  language  of 
the  criminal  classes.  The  hitch  was  maintained  for  some  months,  but 
finally  the  influences  on  the  side  of  the  President  became  too  strong, 
and  when  it  became  clear  that  the  many  months  of  laborious  work  and 
self-sacrifice  which  had  been  given  in  the  interests  of  reform  were  to  be 
nullified  by  the  appointment  of  a  creature  who  would  connive  at  every 
breach  of  the  law,  Mr,  Esselen  decided  to  stand  or  fall  by  his  sub- 
ordinate, the  result  being  a  triumph  for  the  President. 

In  Mr.  Esselen's  place  there  was  appointed  as  State  Attorney  Dr. 
Coster,  a  Hollander,  who,  however,  declined  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  organization  of  the  police ;  and  in  Mr.  Trimble's  stead  re- 
appeared the  individual  whom  he  had  superseded,  and  whose  services 
had  been  dispensed  with.'^  The  triumph  of  the  back-door  influences 
was  again  complete,  and  the  blow  was  a  very  nasty  one  to  the  mining 
industry. 

Small  wonder  that  at  about  this  time  the  Uitlander  community 
stopped  all  agitation,  and  that  a  mood  of  sullen  opposition  and  discon- 
tent took  its  place.  Hope  was  absolutely  dead  as  abuse  after  abuse 
and  scandal  after  scandal  were  showered  upon  them  during  the  Session 

1  (July,  1899.)  This  individual  has  been  again  removed— this  time  by  the 
present  State  Attorney,  Mr.  Smuts. 


80  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

of  1895.  Some  of  the  acts  of  the  Volksraad  cut  at  the  foundation 
of  all  security.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Bepublic  the  A^olksraad 
members  had  taken  it  upon  themselves  to  reverse  several  of  the 
decisions  of  the  High  Court,  and  in  one  case  where  the  Government 
was  being  sued  for  the  fulfilment  of  a  contract,  the  Volksraad  had 
passed  a  resolution  absolving  the  Government  from  certain  terms  of 
the  contract.  The  decision  of  the  Court,  delivered  by  Chief  Justice 
Kotze,  was  to  the  effect  that  if  the  Volksraad  should  take  a  decision  in 
conflict  with  an  existing  law,  that  law  became  i^so  facto  so  far  modified. 
In  another  case  (the  Dom's  case)  a  resolution  was  passed  disabling  the 
aggrieved  individual  from  taking  action  against  the  Government ;  in 
another,  where  the  responsibility  of  the  Government  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  roads  had  been  indicated  by  a  judgment  for  ^1,000  damages,  a 
law  was  passed  in  defiance  of  the  conditions  of  the  Grondwet,  which 
stipulates  for  a  period  of  notice  and  publication  for  proposed  enact- 
ments, absolving  the  Government  from  all  damages  of  this  nature. 

More  than  once  laws  were  passed  with  retroactive  effect — truly  one 
of  the  grossest  abuses  possible  for  a  civilized  Government.  But  per- 
haps the  most  startling  case  of  all  was  that  concerning  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  farm  Witfontein.  This  farm  had  been  proclaimed  a  public 
digging,  open  for  pegging  on  a  certain  hour  of  a  certain  day.  An 
unprecedented  rush  of  peggers  took  place.  The  Government,  fearing " 
a  riot  and  ignoring  their  obvious  duty  in  the  matter  of  police  protection 
and  the  maintenance  of  order,  issued  an  illegal  notice  withdrawing  the 
proclamation,  and  decided  to  give  out  the  claims  by  means  of  lottery. 
Numbers  of  prospectors  pegged  out  claims  notwithstanding  this,  and 
the  prospect  of  legal  difiiculties  being  imminent,  the  Government  sub- 
mitted a  measiire  to  the  Volksraad,  passed  also  in  defiance  of  Grondwet 
provisions,  which  was  broadly  to  the  effect  that  all  persons  who  con- 
sidered that  they  had  claims  for  damages  against  the  Government  in 
regard  to  the  farm  Witfontein  and  the  proclamation  thereof,  had  none, 
and  that  the  Goverimient  was  absolved  from  all  liability  in  this  respect. 
This  enactment  was  only  passed  after  several  persons  had  signified 
their  intention  to  sue  the  Government.  The  Eaad  was,  in  fact,  becom- 
ing familiar  with  the  process  of  tampering  with  the  Grondwet,  and 
members  appeared  ready  to  act  on  the  dictates  of  their  own  sweet  will 
without  regard  to  consequences  or  laws. 

On  several  occasions  the  President  and  Executive  had  treated  with 
contempt  the  decisions  of  the  High  Court,  and  had  practically  and 
publicly  reversed  them.  There  are  many  instances  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  quote,  but  among  the  best-known  and  most  instructive 
ones  are  the  two  cases  known  as  the  '  Eachmann  '  and  '  April '  cases. 
Rachmann  was  an  Indian  and  a  British  subject,  weU  educated — far 
better  educated,  indeed,  than  the  Boer  of  the  country.  In  following  a 
strayed  horse  he  had  trespassed  on  the  farm  of  one  of  the  members  of 


AFTER  THE  WAR  81 

the  First  Eaad.  lie  was  arrested  and  charged  with  intent  to  steal, 
tried  by  the  owner's  brother,  who  was  a  Field-cornet  (district  justice), 
and  sentenced  to  receive  twenty-five  lashes  and  to  pay  a  fine,  the  same 
sentence  being  meted  out  to  his  Hottentot  servant  who  accompanied 
him.  Rachmann  protested  and  noted  an  appeal,  stating  (which  was 
the  fact)  that  it  was  not  within  the  power  of  a  Field-cornet  to  inflict 
lashes,  and  at  the  same  time  he  offered  security  to  the  value  of  £AQ 
pending  the  appeal.  His  protests  were  disregarded  and  he  was  flogged. 
Not  being  a  native  in  the  sense  in  which  the  law  uses  the  term — i.e.,  a 
member  of  the  aboriginal  races — he  could  plead  that  he  was  not  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  a  Field-cornet,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  punish- 
ment was  inflicted  with  full  knowledge  of  its  illegality.  Rachmann 
sued  Mr.  George  Meyer,  the  Field-cornet  in  question,  in  the  Circuit 
Court,  and  obtained  judgment  and  a  considerable  sum  in  damages,  the 
presiding  judge,  Dr.  Jorissen,  animadverting  with  severity  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  ofiicial.  Meyer  shortly  afterwards  obtained  from 
Government  the  amount  of  his  pecuniary  loss  through  the  affair,  the 
President  stating  that  he  had  acted  in  his  ofiicial  capacity,  and  that  they 
should  protect  him. 

The  'April'  case  was  one  in  which  an  unfortunate  native  named 
April,  having  worked  for  a  number  of  years  for  a  farmer  on  promise 
of  certain  payment  in  cattle,  and  having  completed  his  term,  applied 
for  payment  and  a  permit  to  travel  through  the  district.  On  some 
trivial  pretext  this  was  refused  him,  his  cattle  were  seized,  and  him- 
self and  his  wives  and  children  forcibly  retained  in  the  service  of  the 
Boer.  He  appealed  to  the  nearest  official,  Field-cornet  Prinsloo,  who 
acted  in  a  particularly  barbarous  and  unjustifiable  manner,  so  that  the 
Chief  Justice  before  whom  the  case  was  heard  (when  April,  having 
enlisted  the  sympathy  of  some  white  people,  was  enabled  to  make  an 
appeal)  characterized  Prinsloo's  conduct  as  brutal  in  the  extreme,  and 
a  flagrant  abuse  of  power  perpetrated  with  the  aim  of  establishing 
slavery.  Judgment  was  given  against  Prinsloo  with  all  costs.  Within 
a  few  days  of  this  decision  being  arrived  at,  the  President,  addressing 
a  meeting  of  burghers,  publicly  announced  that  the  Government  had 
reimbursed  Prinsloo,  adding,  '  Notwithstanding  the  judgment  of  the 
High  Court,  we  consider  Prinsloo  to  have  been  right.' 

Actions  of  this  kind  have  a  distinct  and  very  evil  influence  upon  the 
supply  of  native  labour.  No  attempt  is  made  to  supply  the  industry) 
with  natives,  or  to  protect  the  natives  whilst  on  their  way  to  and  from, 
the  mines.  The  position  became  so  bad  that  the  Chamber  of  Mines| 
instituted  a  department  with  a  highly-paid  official  at  its  head  to^ 
organize  supply.  It  would  inadequately  describe  the  position  to  say 
that  the  Government  have  rendered  the  Chamber  of  Mines  no  assist- 
ance. Indeed,  it  appears  as  though  the  officials  in  the  country  had 
of  set  purpose  hindered  in  every  way  possible  the  work  so  necessary 


82  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

to  the  working  of  the  industry  on  profitable  lines.  Agencies  were 
established  in  all  the  neighbouring  territories.  Some  of  the  tribes 
declined  to  work  in  the  Transvaal  on  account  of  the  risks  of  highway 
robbery  and  personal  violence  which  they  ran  en  route.  In  one  case 
an  effort  was  made  by  certain  mine-owners  to  meet  the  difficulty  by 
importing  a  whole  tribe — men,  women,  and  children — from  Basutoland 
and  locating  them  upon  an  adjacent  farm.  There  is,  however,  a  law 
known  as  the  Plakkerswet,  or  Squatters'  Law,  which,  framed  with  that 
peculiar  cunning  for  which  the  Transvaal  Government  have  achieved 
a  reputation,  has  the  appearance  of  aiming  at  the  improvement  of  the 
native  labour  supplj^  whilst  in  effect  it  does  the  opposite.  It  provides 
that  not  more  than  five  families  may  reside  upon  one  farm,  the  'family ' 
being  an  adult  male  with  or  without  women  and  children.  Ostensibly 
the  law  purports  to  prevent  the  squatting  together  of  natives  in  large 
numbers  and  in  idleness.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  law  is  not 
applied  in  the  cases  of  Boer  farmers.  From  the  President  downwards 
the  Boers  own  farms  on  which  hundreds  of  families  are  allowed  to 
remain,  paying  their  hut-taxes  and  contributing  largely  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  land-owner.  In  the  case  of  the  Uitlander,  however, 
there  seems  to  be  a  principle  at  stake,  as  the  mine-owners  above 
referred  to  found  to  their  cost.  No  sooner  had  they  located  their  tribe 
and  provided  them  with  all  the  conditions  necessary  to  comfort  than 
an  official  came  down  to  them,  Plakkerswet  in  hand,  and  removed  all 
except  the  five  allowed  by  law  and  distributed  them  among  his  friends 
and  relations.     The  experiment  has  not  been  repeated. 

Early  in  1894  the  Chamber  of  Mines  received  assm'ances  from  the 
Government  that  if  they  would  prepare  a  Pass  Law  which  would 
include  provisions  for  the  protection  of  natives,  for  the  regulation  of 
their  relations  with  employers,  and  for  their  right  to  travel  within  the 
country,  the  Government  would  give  their  support  to  the  measure  and 
would  endeavour  to  have  it  adopted  by  the  Volksraad.  The  Commis- 
sioner for  Native  Affairs,  General  Joubert,  admitted  his  inability  to 
deal  with  so  complex  an  affair,  and  gratefully  accepted  the  aid  of  the 
Chamber.  Such  a  concession  on  the  part  of  the  Government  was 
regarded  as  highly  satisfactory ;  the  law  was  prepared,  everything  was 
explained  and  agreed  to,  the  support  of  the  Government  was  promised 
to  the  draft  law,-  and  it  was  anticipated  that  it  would  come  into  force 
during  the  Session  of  1894.  Such  was  not  the  case.  It  remained 
pigeon-holed  throughout  1894  and  1895,  and  in  the  last  days  of  the 
latter  Session  the  law  was  passed  ;  but  an  important  omission  occurred. 
The  Government  forgot  to  create  the  department  to  carry  out  the  law, 
so  that  by  the  end  of  1895  the  men  were  no  nearer  having  a  workable 
law  than  ever.  But  reforms  when  introduced  by  the  Transvaal  Govern- 
ment are  not  usually  without  an  object,  although  not  necessarily  the 
declared  one.    An  opportunity  was  here  presented  to  the  President  to 


AFTER  THE  WAR  83 

recognise  past  services,  and  he  appointed  to  an  office  which  required 
the  highest  intelligence,  experience,  character  and  zeal  an  individual 
who  had  been  implicated  in  two  disgraceful  charges,  and  who,  having 
failed  to  clear  himself,  had  been  dismissed  his  office  by  the  Boer 
Government  not  two  years  previously.  There  was  but  one  explana- 
tion forthcoming.  The  individual  in  question  was  a  political  supporter 
of  the  President  and  brother  of  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council, 
No  department  has  yet  been  created  ;  but  a  chief  has  been  appointed 
at  a  good  salary,  and  the  Pass  Law  has  been  proclaimed  in  one  district 
of  the  Witwatersrand  out  of  several ;  so  that  a  measure  which  was 
designed  to  effect  an  immense  saving  in  expense  and  convenience  to 
the  mining  industry  was  by  the  appointment  of  an  improper  man  and 
the  neglect  to  organize  a  department  rendered  quite  useless,  and  by 
partial  promulgation  it  was  made  even  detrimental.^ 

^  (July,  1899.)  Provision  was  made  for  the  costs  of  this  dejiartment  by 
doubling  the  pass  fee.  In  the  early  days  of  Johannesburg,  as  soon  as  it 
became  evident  that  hospital  accommodation  was  necessary,  application  was 
made  to  the  Government  for  a  site  (which  was  granted  on  the  hill  then  outside 
the  town),  and  for  some  monetary  assistance.  A  fund  was  also  publicly 
subscribed,  and  the  hospital  built.  For  the  maintenance  of  the  hospital  two 
plans  were  adopted  :  (1)  the  collection  of  funds  once  a  year,  i.e.,  Hospital 
Saturday,  a  source  which  had  yielded  steadily  between  £2,000  and  £3,000  ; 
(2)  having  in  vicAV  the  immense  number  of  native  cases  which  required 
treatment,  and  the  extent  to  which  a  native  is  responsible  for  unsanitary 
conditions,  it  was  proposed  to  impose  upon  them  a  fee  of  Is.  per  month  for 
their  passes,  the  proceeds  of  this  to  be  devoted  entirely  to  the  hospital.  For 
several  years  this  continued  to  yield  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  The  Transvaal 
Government,  although  accepting  the  plan  proposed  by  the  Uitlanders,  and 
for  a  considerable  time  carrying  it  out  faithfully,  did  not  establish  the-  right 
permanently,  but  adopted  the  formality  of  voting  the  proceeds  of  the  pass-fee 
year  by  year.  There  came  a  year  when  the  Raad  in  its  wisdom  decided  that 
this  source  of  revenue  was  too  precarious  for  so  worthy  an  object  as  the 
hospital,  and  they  decided  to  vote  instead  an  annual  subsidy  of  £30,000.  It 
was  then  known  that  the  fees  of  the  past  year  had  amounted  to  over  £40,000, 
and  there  was  every  prospect  of  steady  annual  increase.  This  explains  why  a 
seemingly  generous  subsidy  by  the  Government  does  not  meet  with  that  hearty 
recognition  to  which  it  is  apparently  entitled.  When  a  Pass  Department 
was  proposed,  the  Government  inquired  how  it  was  suggested  to  maintain  it. 
The  Chamber  of  Mines  proposed  to  raise  the  pass  fee  from  Is.  to  2s.  per  month, 
the  extra  shilling  to  be  devoted  entirely  to  the  administration  of  the  Pass 
Law.  "With  the  experience  of  the  hospital  shilling  in  mind,  particular  care 
was  taken  to  liave  the  agreement  minuted  and  confirmed  in  writing.  Never- 
theless, it  transpired  in  the  evidence  given  at  the  Industi'ial  Commission  that 
the  department  was  being  run  at  a  cost  of  slightly  over  £12,000  a  year,  whilst 
the  proceeds  of  the  shilling  reached  the  respectable  total  of  £150,000  a  year. 
The  Government,  therefore,  by  a  breach  of  agreement,  make  £138,000  a  year 
out  of  the  pass  fund,  and  £120,000  a  year  out  of  the  hospital  fund  ;  and  the 
mining  industry  suffers  in  the  meantime  through  maladministration  in  the 
department,  and  are  doubly  taxed  in  the  sense  that  the  companies  have  been 
obliged  to  establish  and  maintain  at  their  own  cost  other  hospitals  all  along 
the  reef.    It  is  not  suggested  that  the  companies  should  not  provide  hospitals, 

6-2 


84  THE  TRA]<rSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

It  has  been  aptly  said  of  the  Boers — and  the  present  instance 
illustrates  the  truth  of  the  remark — that  reform  with  them  seems  to 
be  impossible ;  because,  in  the  first  place,  they  do  not  know  what  to 
do ;  in  the  second  place,  if  they  did,  they  haye  not  got  the  men  to  do 
it ;  and,  in  the  third  place,  if  they  had  the.  men,  they  show  no  con- 
ception of  a  duty  higher  than  that  of  utilizing  every  opportunity  for 
personal  advantage.^  To  the  uninitiated  it  may  well  be  a  puzzle  that 
President  Kruger  should  encourage  a  system  aiming  so  directly  at  the 
strangling  of  an  industry  which  is  the  mainstay  of  the  country ;  but 
in  order  to  appreciate  his  motives  it  is  necessary  to  see  things  from 
his  point  of  view.  He  and  his  party  are  not  desirous  of  cheapening 
the  cost  of  production.  He  does  not  aim  at  euabhng  the  ever- increasing 
alien  population  to  work  lower-grade  mines,  and  so  double  or  treble  the 
number  of  immigrants,  even  though  it  should  profit  the  revenue  of  the 
country.  A  proposal  was  once  made  to  proclaim  as  a  public  field  the 
town  lands  of  Pretoria — that  is  to  say,  to  enable  the  public  to  prospect, 
and  if  results  warranted,  to  open  up  mines  on  lands — some  thousands 
of  acres  in  extent — surrounding  the  town.  The  President  attended  the 
debate  in  the  Second  Eaad  and  violently  opposed  the  measure.  The 
appeal  at  the  end  of  his  address  is  perhaps  as  instructive  as  anything 
Mr.  Kruger  has  said.  '  Stop  and  think  what  you  are  doing,'  he  ex- 
claimed, '  before  you  throw  fresh  fields  open.  Look  at  Johannesburg. 
See  what  a  trouble  and  expense  it  is  to  us.  We  have  enough  gold  and 
enough  gold-seekers  in  the  country  already.  For  all  you  know,  there 
may  be  another  Witwatersrand  at  your  very  feet.' 

In  January,  1891,  the  average  wage  for  native  labourers  was  £;!  2s. 
per  head  per  month.  In  1893  it  had  risen  to  £2  18s.  lOd.,  in  1895  to 
£3  3s.  6d.  In  other  South  African  States  wages  rule  from  15s.  to 
80s.  per  month,  and  the  failure  to  facihtate  the  introduction  of  natives 
from  outside  and  to  protect  them  is  largely  responsible  for  the  high 
figures  paid  on  the  P^and.  Unquestionably  the  ill-will  of  the  Boer 
Government  is  to  blame  for  the  consistent  neglect  of  this  growing 
need  of  the  mines.  If  decent  protection  and  facilities  were  given,  the 
wage  could  be  reduced  to  £,1  15s.  per  month.  The  Government  has 
it  in  its  power  to  give  the  mines  labour  at  this  price,  but,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  there  is  no  desire  to  see  the  lower- grade  mines  working.  A 
reduction  of  ^1  a  month — that  is,  to  £2  Ss.  6d. — would  mean  an 
annual  saving  of  £650,000,  and  the  main  reason  why  nothmg  has 
been  done  to  obtain  this  reduction  is  that  President  Kruger  holds  that 

tho  point  is  that,  having  established  a  fund  which,  although  nominally  paid 
by  the  natives,  really  has  to  be  made  up  to  them  in  wages,  tJiey  were  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  that  fund. 

^  The  story  is  told  of  two  up-country  Boers  who  applied  to  the  President 
for  appointments,  and  received  the  reply  :  *  What  can  I  do  for  you  ?  All  the 
important  offices  are  filled,  and  you  are  not  educated  enough  to  be  clerks]' 


AFTER  THE  WAR  85 

the  goldfields  are  already  big  enough,  and  that  their  further  extension 
would  be  a  calamity. 

Early  in  1895  considerable  suspicion  and  uneasiness  were  aroused 
by  indications  of  the  growth  of  the  German  policy.  The  commercial 
section  of  the  community  was  disturbed  by  reports  of  secret  arrange- 
ments favouring  German  importers.  Facilities  were  given,  and 
'  through  rates '  quoted  from  Hamburg  to  Johannesburg  at  a  reduc- 
tion which  appeared  to  be  greater  than  any  economies  in  sea-trans- 
port, coupled  with  the  complete  elimination  of  agency  charges,  would 
warrant.  The  formal  opening  of  the  Delagoa  Bay  Eailway  by  the 
President  furnished  him  with  an  opportunity  to  express  with  signifi- 
cant emphasis  his  friendliness  for  all  things  German.  At  a  banquet 
given  in  honour  of  the  German  Emperor's  birthday,  January  27, 
1895,  the  President,  after  eulogizing  the  old  Emperor  William,  the 
present  Emperor,  and  the  loyalty  of  the  Germans  in  the  Transvaal, 
continued : 

The  latter  I  experienced  once  again  at  the  time  of  the  Kaffir  War.  One 
day  three  or  four  Germans  came  to  me  and  said :  '  We  are  indeed  not  natural- 
ized, and  are  still  subjects  of  our  Emperor  in  Germany,  but  we  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  this  country,  and  are  ready  to  defend  it  in  accordance  with  its 
laws.  If  your  Excellency  requires  our  services,  we  are  willing  to  march  out. ' 
And  they  marched.  That  is  the  spirit  which  I  admire.  They  were  under 
the  laws,  they  worked  under  the  laws,  they  obeyed  the  laws,  and  they  fell  in 
war  under  the  laws.  All  my  subjects  are  not  so  minded.  The  English,  for 
instance,  although  they  behave  themselves  properly  and  are  loyal  to  the  State, 
always  fall  back  upon  England  when  it  suits  their  purpose.  Therefore  I  shall 
ever  promote  the  interests  of  Germany,  though  it  be  but  with  the  resources  of 
a  child,  such  as  my  land  is  considered.  This  child  is  now  being  trodden  upon 
by  one  gi-eat  Power,  and  the  natural  consequence  is  that  it  seeks  protection 
from  another.  The  time  has  come  to  knit  ties  of  the  closest  friendship 
between  Germany  and  the  South  African  Republic — ties  such  as  are  natural 
between  father  and  child. 

The  very  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  Germans,  and  the 
positive  statement  that  a  great  many  men  of  military  training  were 
coming  out  for  service  in  the  Transvaal,  that  officers  were  being 
employed  to  work  up  the  artillery  and  to  design  forts,  all  tended  to 
increase  the  feeling  of  intense  dissatisfaction  and  uneasiness  which 
culminated  in  the  outbreak  at  the  close  of  the  year.  Dr.  Leyds,  it  was 
well  known,  went  on  a  political  mission  to  Lisbon  and  to  Berlin,  and 
it  was  stated  that  large  sums  had  been  withdrawn  from  the  Treasury 
and  charged  to  the  secret  service  fund,  the  handling  of  which  was 
entrusted  to  this  gentleman.  Dr.  Leyds'  personal  popularity,  never 
very  great,  was  at  the  lowest  possible  ebb.  He  was  regarded  as  the 
incarnation  of  HoUanderism — the  '  head  and  front '  of  that  detested 
influence.  It  was  not  credited  to  him  in  the  Transvaal,  as  it  has  been 
elsewhere,  that  he  designed  or  prompted  the  policy  against  the  Uit- 


86  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

landers.  There  it  is  fully  appreciated  that  there  is  but  one  man  in  it, 
and  that  man  President  Kruger.  Dr.  Leyds  and  others  may  be  and 
are  clever  and  willing  tools.  They  may  lend  acidity  or  offensiveness 
to  a  hostile  despatch,  they  may  add  a  twist  or  two  to  a  tortuous  policy, 
but  the  policy  is  President  Kruger's  own,  the  methods  are  his  own,  all 
but  the  minor  details.  Much  as  the  Hollander- German  clique  may 
profit  by  their  alliance  with  Mr.  Kruger,  it  is  not  to  be  believed  that 
he  is  deceived.  He  regards  them  as  handy  instruments  and  ready 
agents.  If  they  profit  by  the  association,  they  do  so  at  the  expense 
of  the  accursed  Uitlander ;  but  there  is  no  intention  on  Mr.  Kruger's 
part  to  allow  Germany  or  Holland  to  secure  a  permanent  hold  over 
the  Republic,  any  more  than  he  would  allow  England  to  increase  hers. 
He  has  played  off  one  against  another  with  consummate  skill. 

Early  in  his  official  career  Dr.  Leyds  was  guilty  of  an  indiscretion 
such  as  few  would  have  suspected  him  of.  Shortly  after  his  appoint- 
ment as  Attorney- General  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Holland,  giving  his 
opinion  of  the  Members  of  the  Executive.  His  judgment  was  sound ; 
except  of  one  man.  Unfortunately  for  Dr.  Leyds,  he  quarrelled  with 
his  correspondent  ;  and  the  letter  was  of  such  a  nature  that,  when 
pubhshed,  it  made  extremely  unpleasant  reading.  Generals  Joubert 
and  Smit,  who  had  been  described  with  admirable  truth  and  candour, 
were  so  enraged  that  they  demanded  the  instant  dismissal  of  the  '  con- 
ceited young  popinjay'  who  had  dared  to  criticise  his  masters.  The 
President,  however,  who  had  been  described  as  an  ignorant,  narrow- 
minded,  pig-headed,  and  irascible  old  Boer  whom — with  the  others 
thrown  in — the  writer  could  play  with  and  twist  round  his  finger  as 
he  chose,  was  not  disturbed  by  the  criticism.  In  reply  to  appeals  for 
forgiveness  on  the  score  of  youth,  and  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  his 
colleagues,  President  Kruger  agreed  to  retain  Dr.  Leyds  in  office, 
remarking  that  he  was  a  capable  young  fellow  and  would  know  better 
in  course  of  time,  and  explaining  to  him  personally  that  he  would 
keep  him  there  just  as  long  as  it  suited  his  (the  President's)  con- 
venience. The  association  has  lasted  for  ten  years,  so  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  Dr.  Leyds  has  changed  his  opinion  of  President  Kruger, 
and  frankly  realized  his  position. 

During  the  early  part  of  1896,  when  the  question  of  the  release  on 
bail  of  the  Reform  prisoners  seemed  to  be  of  some  moment,  a  well- 
known  Pretoria  man,  friendly  to  the  Government,  called  upon  Presi- 
dent Kruger  and  urged  the  advisability  of  allowing  the  prisoners  out 
on  bail,  and  with  considerable  lack  of  tact  explained  that  it  was  well 
known  that  the  President's  humane  nature  inclined  him  to  be  lenient, 
but  that  the  malign  influence  of  others  was  believed  to  be  swaying 
him  in  this  matter.  The  old  President  jumped  up  in  a  huff  and  said, 
•Ja,  ja,  jal  You  always  say  it  is  somebody  else  1  First,  it  was 
Jorissen  who  did  everything;  then  it  was  Nellmapius;  and  then  it 


AFTER  THE  WAR  87 

was  Leyds.  Well,  Jorissen  is  done  for ;  Nellmapius  is  dead ;  Leyda 
is  in  Europe — who  is  it  now  ?' 

The  President's  opinion  of  himself  may  be  commended  as  food  for 
reflection  to  those  who  think  they  know  everything  about  the  inner 
workings  of  the  Transvaal. 

Dr.  Leyds'  reputation,  unfavourable  as  it  has  been,  was  not  im- 
proved by  the  Selati  Kailway  exposure.  Eightly  or  wrongly,  in  this 
matter,  as  in  the  jobs  of  the  Netherlands  Eailway  and  several  others 
of  considerable  magnitude,  he  has  been  held  responsible  in  the  public 
mind  for  the  financial  loss  which  the  Eepublic  sustained.  When  he 
left,  ostensibly  on  a  recruiting  trip,  few — very  few — believed  that  the 
illness  was  a  physical  one.  It  is  alleged  that  a  gentleman  on  Presi- 
dent Faure's  staff,  on  hearing  that  Dr.  Leyds  had  gone  to  Berlin  to 
consult  a  physician,  inquired  what  the  ailment  was  ?  '  Mai  de  gorge,' 
was  the  reply.  '  Ah,'  said  the  officer,  '  mal  de  gorge — diplomatique.' 
And  that  was  the  opinion  in  the  Transvaal,  albeit  differently  ex- 
pressed. 

It  is  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  volume,  nor  is  it  at  all 
necessary,  to  review  all  the  measures  which  have  been  passed  by  the 
Volksraad  and  pressed  by  the  Government  unnecessarily  burdening 
the  Uitlanders  and  unjustifiably  assailing  their  rights ;  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  Election  Law,  which  made  it  a  crime  to  form  Com- 
mittees or  do  any  of  those  things  which  are  regarded  everywhere  as 
part  of  the  legitimate  business  of  elections — thus  leaving  Mr.  Kruger 
the  sole  master  of  electioneering  machinery,  namely,  the  Government 
officials.  The  Public  Meetings  Act  was  another  monstrous  infringe- 
ment of  rights.  By  it  a  policeman  has  the  right  to  disperse  any 
gathering  of  more  than  seven  persons,  if  in  his  opinion  it  be  desirable. 
Imagine  it !  Liberty  of  Speech  against  the  Discretion  of  a  Transvaal 
policeman  1  But  the  list  would  be  long  and  the  tale  monotonous. 
And  as  long  and  equally  monotonous  would  be  the  Hst  of  the  measures 
proposed  or  threatened,  but  fortunately  not  carried.  However,  the 
review  of  the  period  prior  to  1896,  and  the  statement  of  the  causes 
leading  to  the  outbreak,  may  fitly  be  brought  to  a  close  by  the  recital 
of  some  of  the  measures  under  both  the  above  headings  which  grace 
the  records  of  the  Session  of  1895. 

As  is  well  known,  the  Grondwet  (the  written  constitution  of  the 
country)  prescribes  certain  formalities  for  the  introduction  of  new  laws. 
In  order  to  evade  the  law,  and  so  avoid  hostile  criticism  of  proposed 
measures — in  order,  in  fact,  to  prevent  the  public  and  even  the  Volks- 
raad members  from  knowing  and  studying  or  explaining  and  digesting 
the  intended  legislation — it  has  become  the  practice  ol  the  Government 
to  propose  and  rush  through  the  most  radical  and  important  enact- 
ments in  the  form  of  amendments  or  explanations  of  existing  laws. 
Prior  to  1895  the  Transfer  Law  imposed  a  tax  of  4  per  cent,  upon 


88  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

the  purchase-price  of  fixed  property  ;  and  in  the  case  of  sales  for  shares 
a  valuation  of  the  property  was  made  by  the  Government  district 
officials,  and  transfer  duty  was  paid  on  the  amount  of  the  valuation. 
This  was  universally  done  in  the  case  of  claims,  which  must  of  neces- 
sity in  most  instances  be  transferred  several  times  before  they  become 
registered  in  the  name  of  the  company  eventually  working  them.  It 
was  admitted  that  to  pay  4  per  cent,  of  full  value  on  every  transfer,  or 
to  pay  1  per  cent,  on  the  nominal  value  of  ground  on  which  years  of 
work  would  have  to  be  done  and  large  sums  of  money  expended  before 
shareholders  could  reap  one  pennyworth  of  profit,  would  be  iniquitous. 
In  1895,  however,  the  Eaad  thought  otherwise,  and  amended  the  law 
by  the  insertion  of  the  words  '  in  cash  or  shares  '  after  the  words  '  pur- 
chase-price.' The  result  is  that  owners  who  have  acquired  claims  at 
great  cost,  who  have  paid  licenses  continuously  on  their  claims,  and 
who  have  paid  full  transfer  duty  on  each  nominal  change  of  ownership, 
necessary  to  consolidation  into  workable  blocks  or  groups,  are  now 
required  to  pay  again  in  cash  4  per  cent,  on  the  total  capital  allotted  in 
respect  of  these  claims  in  the  company  formed  to  work  them.  Members 
of  the  Raad,  in  supporting  this  measure,  did  not  hesitate  to  argue  that 
it  was  a  good  law,  because  the  burghers  did  not  sell  their  farms  for 
shares,  but  for  cash,  and  it  was  right  to  tax  those  people  who  deal  in 
shares. 

The  sense  of  insecurity  which  obtains  during  the  sessions  of  the 
Raad  is  due  scarcely  less  to  the  threats  which  are  not  fulfilled  and 
attempts  which  do  not  succeed  than  to  what  is  actually  compassed.  A 
direct  tax  on  gold  has  more  than  once  been  threatened ;  concessions 
for  cyanide,  jam,  bread,  biscuits,  and  woollen  fabrics  were  all  attempted. 
The  revival  of  an  obsolete  provision  by  which  the  Government  can 
claim  a  royalty  on  the  gold  from  •  mynpachts,'  or  mining  leases,  has 
been  promised,  and  it  is  almost  as  much  expected  as  it  is  dreaded. 

With  a  monotony  which  is  wearying,  but  which  does  not  diminish 
the  unfortunate  Uitlanders'  interest  in  the  subject,  the  burden  of  every 
measure  falls  on  the  alien.  One  more  instance  will  suffice.  It  illus- 
trates the  Hollander-Boer  genius  for  fulfilling  the  letter  and  breaking 
the  spirit  of  a  covenant.  It  was  notified  that  Government  were  about 
to  introduce  a  war  tax,  and  that  this  tax  was  to  be  one  of  ^20  per  farm, 
to  be  levied  in  event  of  war  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  Government  it 
should  be  necessary.  Much  surprise  was  felt  that  anything  so  un- 
favourable to  the  Boers  as  a  tax  on  farms  should  be  proposed.  When 
the  measure  came  on  for  discussion,  it  was  found  to  contain  provisions 
exempting  the  owner  who  personally  resided  on  his  farm,  and  espe- 
cially and  definitely  taxing  those  farms  which  are  owned  by  companies, 
associations,  corporations,  or  partnerships.  The  Boer,  it  is  well  known, 
takes  no  shares  in  companies,  joins  no  associations,  and  has  partner- 
ship with  no  one.     This  law  was  shelved  in  1895,  but  has  since  been 


AFTER  THE  WAR  89 

passed.'^  It  is  of  a  piece  with  the  rest.  Having  sold  his  farm  to  the 
Uitlander,  the  Boer  now  proceeds  to  plunder  him :  and  '  plunder '  is 
not  too  strong  a  word  when  it  is  realized  that  the  tax  falls  not  on  the 
really  valuable  farms  on  the  high  veldt,  which  are  nearly  all  owned  by 
individuals,  and  are  all  occupied,  but  on  the  undeveloped  outlying 
farms,  the  rentable  value  of  which  would  not  on  the  average  suffice  to 
pay  the  tax  I  Indeed,  one  very  large  landowner  stated  to  the  Govern- 
ment at  the  time  that  if  this  law  were  passed  and  put  in  force  they 
might  take  all  his  rentals,  good  and  bad,  in  lieu  of  the  tax,  as  it  would 
pay  him  better ! 

These  were  matters  which  more  immediately  concerned  persons  of 
certain  means.  There  is  another  matter,  however,  which  very  directly 
concerned  every  individual  who  had  any  intention  of  remaining  in  the 
country — that  is,  the  matter  of  education.  A  dead  set  had  always  been 
made  by  the  Transvaal  Government  against  any  encouragement  of 
liberal  education  which  would  involve  the  use  or  even  the  recognition 
of  the  English  language.  Indeed,  some  of  the  legislators  have  been 
known  to  express  the  opinion  that  education  was  not  by  any  means 
desirable,  as  it  taught  the  rising  generation  to  look  with  contempt  on 
the  hardy  Voortrekkers ;  and  an  interesting  debate  is  on  record  in 
which  members  pointedly  opposed  the  granting  of  facilities  for  the 
education  of  their  own  womenkind,  on  the  ground  that  presently  the 
women  would  be  found  reading  books  and  newspapers  instead  of  doing 
their  work,  and  would  soon  get  to  know  more  than  their  fathers, 
husbands,  and  brothers,  and  would,  as  a  consequence,  quickly  get 
out  of  hand.  It  did  not  seem  to  occur  to  these  worthy  gentlemen 
that  the  proper  course  would  be  to  educate  the  men.  But  it 
would  not  be  fair  to  take  this  view  as  the  representative  one.  On 
the  point  of  the  English  language,  however,  and  the  refusal  to  give  any 
facilities  for  the  education  of  Uitlander  children,  the  Boer  Legislature  is 
practically  unanimous.  The  appalling  consequences  of  allowing  the 
young  population  to  grow  up  in  absolute  ignorance  were  reahzed  by 
the  people  of  Johannesburg,  and  efforts  were  constantly  made  to  induce 
the  Government  to  recognise  the  evil  that  was  growing  in  the  State. 
The  efforts  were  so  entirely  unsuccessful  that  the  Uitlanders  found  in 
this  as  in  other  cases  that  nothing  would  be  done  unless  they  did  it  for 
themselves.  A  fund  was  opened,  to  which  very  liberal  donations  were 
made.  The  services  of  a  Director-General  were  secured,  and  an  Edu- 
cational Council  was  elected.  A  comprehensive  scheme  of  education 
— in  the  first  place  for  the  Eand  district,  but  intended  to  be  extended 
ultimately  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  of  the  Uitlander  population  in 
the  Transvaal — was  devised,  and  it  was  calculated  that  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  a  fund  of  close  upon  half  a  million  of  money  would  be 

^  (July,  1899.)  The  law  has  been  declared  by  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown 
to  be  a  breach  of  the  London  Convention. 


90  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

required,  and  would  be  raised,  in  order  to  place  educational  facilities 
within  the  reach  of  the  people.  Needless  to  say,  this  did  not  at  all 
square  with  the  policy  of  the  Transvaal  Government,  and  the  scheme 
was  looked  upon  with  the  utmost  disfavour.  In  order  to  defeat  it,  the 
Superintendent- General  of  Education,  Dr.  Mansvelt,  a  Hollander,  who 
for  six  years  had  degraded  his  high  office  to  the  level  of  a  political 
engine,  felt  himself  called  upon  to  do  something — something  to  trail 
the  red  herring  across  the  too  hot  scent — and  he  intimated  that  more 
hberal  measures  would  be  introduced  during  the  Session  of  1895,  and 
in  his  report  proposed  certain  amendments  to  the  existing  law,  which 
would  (in  appearance,  but,  alas  !  not  in  fact)  improve  the  condition  of 
the  Uitlander.  The  following  letter,  appearing  in  the  London  Times  on 
October  3, 1896,  although  dealing  with  a  period  some  months  later  than 
that  under  review,  explains  the  position  with  authority  and  clearness 
— a  position  which  has  not  been  materially  altered,  except  for  the 
worse,  during  Dr.  Mansvelt's  regime.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  last- 
named  gentleman  coupled  with  his  '  liberal'  provisions  the  suggestion 
that  all  schools,  except  those  of  the  State,  should  be  suppressed.  Such 
a  suggestion  reveals  very  clearly  the  aim  of  this  '  Keform '  measure. 

Sir, 

I  trust  you  will  allow  me  a  little  space  with  a  view  to  enable  me  to 
correct,  by  the  application  of  a  little  wholesome  fact,  the  erroneous  impression 
which  has  been  created  in  England  with  reference  to  the  education  of  Uit- 
landers  in  the  Transvaal  by  recent  crude  and  ill-considered  expressions  of 
opinion,  notably  by  Mr.  Reginald  Statham  and  Mr.  Chamberlain. 

Mr. ,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  one  of  your  contemporaries,  informed  the 

British  public  that  in  view  of  a  liberal  Government  grant  of  £4  per  head  per 
annum,  the  Transvaal  Uitlander  had  nothing  to  complain  of  in  respect  to 

education.     As  Mr.   claims  to  be  completely  informed   on   Transvaal 

politics,  he  can  only  have  been  guilty  of  a  deliberate,  if  not  malicious, 
suppressio  vert  when  he  omitted  to  say  that,  like  most  of  the  legislation  of  this 
country,  which  has  for  its  ostensible  object  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  Uitlander,  this  measure,  which  looks  like  munificence  at  first  sight,  has 
been  rendered  practically  inoperative  by  the  conditions  which  hedge  it  round. 
Take,  for  example,  a  school  of  100  children.  Strike  out  ten  as  being  under 
age,  ten  as  having  been  too  short  a  time  at  school,  twenty  as  suspected  of 
being  of  Dutch  parentage.  Out  of  the  sixty  that  remain  suppose  fifty  satisfy 
the  inspector  in  the  Dutch  language  and  history,  and  you  have  as  your  allow- 
ance for  the  year  £200— a  sum  which  is  insufficient  to  pay  the  Dutch  teacher 
employed  to  bring  the  children  up  to  the  required  standard  in  that  language. 
It  is  small  wonder,  then,  that  most  teachers  prefer  to  dispense  with  this 
Will-o'-the-wisp  grant  altogether,  seeing  that  the  eff'orts  of  some  to  earn  it 
have  resulted  in  pecuniary  loss.  The  actual  sura  expended  on  Uitlander 
schools  last  year  amounted  to  £650,  or  Is.  lOd.  a  head,  out  of  a  total  expendi- 
ture for  education  of  £63,000,  the  expenditure  per  Dutch  child  amounting  to 
£8  6s.  Id. 

Mr,  Chamberlain  considers  the  new  educational  law  for  Johannesburg  as  a 
subject  for  gi-atulation.  I  should  have  thought  that  his  recent  dealings  with 
Pretoria  would  have  suggested  to  him  as  a  statesman  that  felicitations  upon 
the  passing  of  a  vague  and  absolutely  undefined  measure  might  possibly  be  a 


AFTER  THE  WAR  91 

little  too  premature.  A  Volksraad  which  only  rejected  the  forcible  closing  oi 
private  seliools  by  a  majority  of  two  votes  is  hardly  likely  to  give  the  Execu- 
tive carte  blanche  to  deal  with  Uitlander  education  without  some  understand- 
ing, tacit  or  declared,  as  to  how  this  power  is  to  be  wielded.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  nearly  two  months  have  elapsed  since  the  passing  of  a  measure  which 
was  to  come  into  operation  at  once,  and  nothing  has  been  done.  In  the 
meantime,  we  can  learn  from  the  inspired  press  and  other  sources  that  English 
schools  which  desire  aid  under  the  new  law  must  be  prepared  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  Standard  V.  and  upwards,  and  entirely  in  the  Dutch  language.  So 
far,  the  Superintendent  of  Education,  whether  acting  under  instructions  or  on 
his  own  initiative,  has  been  absolutely  immovable  on  this  point,  and  the 
much- vaunted  law  promises  to  be  as  much  a  dead-letter  as  the  Is.  lOd.  grant. 
The  Johannesburg  Council  of  Education  has  exerted  its  influence  to  secure  such 
an  interpretation  of  the  new  law  as  would  lead  to  the  establishment  of  schools 
where  Dutch  and  English  children  might  sit  side  by  side,  and  so  work  towards 
establishing  a  bond  of  sympathy  and  the  eventual  blending  of  the  races.  The 
Pretoria  authorities,  however,  refuse  to  entertain  the  idea  of  meeting  the 
Uitlander  in  a  conciliatory  spirit  on  anything  like  equal  terms,  but  will  only 
treat  with  us  on  the  footing  of  master  and  servant.  A  curious  and  almost 
inexplicable  feature  of  the  situation  is  the  fact  that  hundreds  of  Boers  are 
clamouring  for  the  better  instruction  of  their  children  in  English,  but  which 
is  steadfastly  refused  them. 

I  might  enlarge  on  what  I  have  written,  and  point  out  the  injustice  and  the 
gross  system  of  extortion  practised  by  the  Government  in  making  Johannes- 
burg pay  something  like  £7  per  head  for  the  education  of  Dutch  children, 
whilst  it  has  to  pay  from  £5  to  £15  per  annum  for  the  education  of  each 
child  of  its  own,  meanwhile  leaving  hundreds  growing  up  in  the  blackest 
ignorance  and  crime.  Any  comment  would,  however,  lay  me  open  to  the 
charge  of  bias  and  partisanship,  and  I  therefore  confine  myself  to  the  simple 
statement  of  a  few  facts,  which  I  challenge  anyone  to  controvert,  leaving  the 
reader  to  draw  his  OAvn  conclusions. 

I  am,  sir,  yours,  etc. 

John  Robinson, 

Director-General  Johannesburg 
Educational  Council. 

Imagine  it  1  ^650  used  for  the  children  of  those  who  contributed 
nine-tenths  of  the  £"63,000  spent  on  education  ! 

I'he  succession  of  flagrant  jobs,  the  revelation  of  abuses  unsuspected, 
the  point-blank  refusal  to  effect  any  reasonable  reforms,  had  filled  the 
Uitlanders'  cup  perilously  full,  and  during  the  latter  half  of  1895  the 
prospect  of  any  change  for  the  better,  except  at  the  cost  of  fighting, 
was  generally  realized  to  be  very  poor  indeed. 

Trouble  came  to  South  Africa  with  the  end  of  1895.  It  very  nearly 
came  earlier.  Mention  has  been  made  that  the  Netherlands  Eailway 
Company  practically  dictates  the  relations  of  the  Transvaal  with  the 
other  States  in  South  Africa  by  means  of  its  tariffs.  The  competition 
between  the  Cape,  Natal  and  Delagoa  lines  having  become  very  keen, 
and  the  Cape  service  by  superior  management  and  easier  gradients 
having  secured  the  largest  share  of  the  carrying  trade,  attempts  were 
made  to  effect  a  different  division  of  profits.  Negotiations  failed  to 
bring  the  various  parties  to  terms,  and  owing  to  the  policy  of  the 


92  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Netherlands  Eailway  Company,  the  Cape  Colony  and  Free  State, 
whose  interests  were  common,  were  m  spirit  very  hostile  to  the  Trans- 
vaal, and  bitterly  resentful  of  the  policy  whereby  a  foreign  corporation 
was  aided  to  profit  enormously  to  the  detriment  of  the  sister  South 
African  States.  After  all  that  the  Colonial  and  Free  State  Dutch  had 
done  for  their  Transvaal  brethren  in  days  of  stress  and  adversity,  it 
was  felt  to  be  base  ingratitude  to  hinder  their  trade  and  tax  their 
products. 

The  Cape  Colony-Free  State  line  ends  at  the  Vaal  Kiver.  Thence 
all  goods  are  carried  over  the  Netherlands  Eailway  Company's  section 
to  Johannesburg,  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles.  In  order  to  handicap 
the  southern  line,  an  excessive  rate  was  imposed  for  carriage  on  this 
section.  Even  at  the  present  time  the  tariff  is  8|d.  per  ton  per  mile, 
as  against  a  rate  of  about  3d.  with  which  the  other  two  lines  are 
favoured.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  and  the  obstructions  placed 
in  the  way  by  obnoxious  regulations  and  deliberate  blocking  of  the  line 
with  loaded  trucks  at  Vereeniging,  and  also  the  blocking  of  Johannes- 
burg stations  by  non-delivery  of  goods — measures  which  resulted  some- 
times in  a  delay  of  months  in  delivery,  and  sometimes  in  the  destruc- 
tion or  loss  of  goods  — the  Southern  line  more  than  held  its  own.  The 
block  was  overcome  by  off-loading  goods  at  the  Vaal  Eiver  and  trans- 
porting them  to  Johannesburg  by  mule  and  ox  waggons. 

Mr.  Kruger  and  his  Hollander  friends  were  almost  beaten  when  the 
President  played  his  last  card.  He  intimated  liis  intention  to  close  the 
Vaal  Eiver  drifts  against  over-sea  goods,  and,  by  thus  preventing  the 
uae  of  waggons,  to  force  all  traffic  on  to  his  railways  upon  his  terms  ; 
and  as  the  threat  did  not  bring  the  Colony  and  Free  State  to  the  proper 
frame  of  mind,  he  closed  them.  This  was  a  flagrant  breach  of  the 
London  Convention,  and  as  such  it  was  reported  by  the  High  Com- 
missioner to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  imperial  intervention  was  asked. 
Mr.  Chamberlain  replied  that  it  was  a  matter  most  closely  affecting  the 
Colony,  and  he  required,  before  dealing  with  it,  to  have  the  assurance 
of  the  Colonial  Government  that,  in  the  event  of  war  resulting,  the 
cost  of  the  campaign  would  be  borne,  share  and  share  alike,  by  the 
Imperial  and  Colonial  Governments,  and  that  the  latter  would  transport 
troops  over  their  lines  free  of  charge.  Such  was  the  indignation  in  the 
Colony  at  the  treatment  accorded  it  that  the  terms  were  at  once  agreed 
to — a  truly  significant  fact  when  it  is  realized  that  the  Ministry  under- 
taking this  responsibility  had  been  put  and  was  maintained  in  office  by 
the  Dutch  party,  and  included  in  its  members  the  best  and  most  pro- 
nounced Africander  representatives.  But  Mr.  Kruger  is  not  easily 
'  cornered.'  His  unfailing  instinct  told  him  that  business  was  meant 
when  he  received  Mr.  Chamberlain's  ultimatum  to  open  the  drifts. 
The  President  '  climbed  down '  and  opened  them  I  He  has  several 
advantages  which  other  leaders  of  men  have  not,  and  among  them  is 


AFTER  THE  WAR  93 


that  of  having  little  or  no  pride.  lAle  will  bluster  and  bluff  and  bully 
when  occasion  seems  to  warrant  it ;  but  when  his  judgment  warns  him 
that  he  has  gone  as  far  as  he  prudently  can,  he  will  alter  his  tactics 
as  promptly  and  dispassionately  as  one  changes  one's  coat  to  suit  the 
varying  conditions  of  the  weather.  Mr.  ELruger  climbed  down  1  It  did 
not  worry  him,  nor  did  he  take  shame  that  he  had  failed.  He  climbed 
down,  as  he  had  done  before  in  the  Stellaland  affair,  the  Banjailand 
trek,  the  commandeering  incident,  and  as  he  no  doubt  will  do  in 
others ;  for  he  may  bluff  hard,  but  it  will  take  a  great  deal  to  make 
him  fight.  There  is  one  matter  upon  which  Mr.  Kruger's  judgment  is 
perfect :  he  can  judge  the  '  breaking  strain  '  to  a  nicety.  He  climbs 
down,  but  he  is  not  beaten ;  for  as  surely  as  the  dammed  stream  will 
seek  its  outlet,  so  surely  will  the  old  Dutchman  pursue  his  settled  aim. 
War  is  war,  and  alwaj'^s  bad ;  but  sometimes  worse  ;  for  the  cause  is 
still  a  mighty  factor,  as  those  may  see  who  contrast  the  probable  effects 
upon  the  people  of  South  Africa  of  war  on  the  drifts  question  with  the 
actual  results  of  the  Jameson  raid. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    MOVEMENT 

Having  failed  in  their  constitutional  attempts  to  secure  a  reasonable 
voice  in  the  government,  or  any  redress  of  their  grievances,  there  came 
the  time  when  men's  thoughts  naturally  turned  to  the  last  expedient — 
force.  Up  to  and  so  late  as  the  Volksraad  Session  of  1895,  a  constitu- 
tional agitation  for  rights  had  been  carried  on  by  the  Transvaal  National 
Union,  a  body  representing  the  unenfranchised  portion  of  the  popula- 
tion. Of  its  members  but  few  belonged  to  the  class  of  wealthy  mine  and 
land  owners  :  they  had  so  far  abstained  from  taking  any  part  in  a 
political  organization  which  was  viewed  with  dislike  and  suspicion  by 
the  Government  and  the  great  majority  of  the  Boers.  It  has  been 
asserted  by  a  few  Progressive  members  of  the  Eaad  that  many  of  the 
Boers  were  themselves  opposed  to  the  policy  adopted  towards  the  new- 
comers ;  but,  whilst  this  may  be  to  some  extent  true,  it  is  more  than 
questionable  whether  any  of  the  burghers  were  willing  to  concede  a 
share  in  the  power  of  government,  although  it  is  certain  that  great 
numbers  would  not  have  taken  active  steps  against  the  Uitlanders  but 
for  the  invasion  by  a  foreign  force.  Any  extending  of  the  franchise 
means  to  the  great  majority  of  the  Boers  a  proportionate  loss  of  in- 
dependence. 

When  the  matter  of  the  Independence  of  the  Eepublic  is  discussed  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  independence  conveys  something  to  the 
Boers  which  is  radically  different  from  what  it  means  to  anyone  else. 
That  the  State  should  continue  for  ever  to  be  independent  and  prosperous 


94  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

— a  true  republic — would  be  mockery  heaped  on  injury  if  the  absolute 
domination  by  the  Boer  party  should  cease  ;  and  when  the  parrot-like 
cry  of  '  The  Independence  of  the  State  is  threatened '  is  raised  again 
and  again  a;propos  of  the  most  trivial  measures  and  incidents,  this  idea 
is  the  one  that  prompts  it.  Instances  innumerable  could  be  quoted 
seemingly  illustrating  the  Boer  legislators'  inability  to  distinguish 
between  simple  measures  of  reform  and  justice,  and  measures  aimed 
at  undermining  the  State's  stability  and  independence.  It  is  not 
stupidity  1  It  is  that  the  Boer  realizes  at  least  one  of  the  inevitable 
consequences  of  reform — that  the  ignorant  and  incapable  must  go 
under.  Beform  is  the  death-knell  of  his  oligarchy,  and  therefore  a 
danger  to  the  independence  of  the  State — as  he  sees  it.  Until  the  Euro- 
pean people  who  have  lately  become  so  deeply  concerned  in  Transvaal 
affairs  realize  how  widelj^  divergent  are  the  two  interpretations  of 
*  Independence,'  they  will  not  have  begun  to  understand  the  Transvaal 
Question. 

The  National  Union  did  not  represent  any  particular  class  in  the 
Uitlander  community.  It  was  formed  of  men  drawn  from  all  classes, 
who  felt  that  the  conditions  of  life  were  becoming  intolerable,  and  that 
something  would  have  to  be  done  by  the  community  to  bring  about 
reforms  which  the  Legislature  showed  no  signs  of  voluntarily  introducing. 

When  it  is  said  that  it  consisted  of  men  drawn  from  all  classes,  the 
qualification  should  be  made  that  the  richer  classes— that  is  to  say,  the 
capitalists  of  the  country — were  very  meagrely  if  at  all  represented. 
Many  efforts  had  been  made  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  the  capitalists, 
and  to  draw  them  into  the  movement,  but  the  '  big  firms,'  as  they  were 
styled,  for  a  very  long  time  refused  to  take  any  part  whatever,  pre- 
ferring to  abstain  entirely  rather  than  associate  themselves  with  a 
definite  agitation.  They  pleaded,  and  no  doubt  fairly,  that  in  case  of 
failure  they  with  their  vested  mterests  would  be  the  ones  to  suffer,  while 
in  the  event  of  success  they  would  not  benefit  in  a  greater  degree  than 
the  individuals  who  had  little  or  no  material  stake.  One  by  one,  how- 
ever, they  were  drawn  into  the  political  movement  to  the  extent  of 
supplying  funds  for  carrying  on  the  reform  agitation,  or  of  giving 
monetary  support  to  those  who  were  stimulating  and  organizi&g  the 
Progressive  party  among  the  Boers.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  prior 
to  1895  the  wealthier  men  without  exception  refused  to  consider  the 
possibility  of  violent  measures.  It  was  only  when  they  realized  that 
the  Boer  party  were  determinedly  hostile  —  organizing  very  large 
encroachments  upon  the  privileges  of  the  Uitlanders  and  designing 
fresh  burdens  to  be  borne  by  them — and  when  it  became  clear  that  the 
dangers  threatening  as  a  result  of  their  own  supine  attitude  were  worse 
than  any  disfavour  with  which  they  might  be  viewed  on  account  of 
political  action,  that  they  began  to  take  an  active  part  with  others  in 
the  agitation  for  reform.     It  was  not  until  the  Volksraad  in  the  Session 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  95 

of  1895  revealed  their  real  policy  and  their  fixed  determination  to  effect 
no  reform,  that  men  began  to  talk  of  the  possibility  of  revolutionary 
measures  becoming  necessary.  The  subject  once  mooted  was  frequently 
discussed,  and  once  discussed  became  familiar  ;  and  the  thing  which  a 
few  months  before  had  been  regarded  as  out  of  the  bounds  of  possi- 
bility came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  very  probable  contingency.  The 
extraordinary  boom  in  shares,  land,  and  all  kinds  of  property,  which 
lasted  throughout  the  year,  no  doubt  operated  against  the  maturing  of 
this  feeling,  but  it  nevertheless  continued  to  grow.  The  most  dis- 
satisfied section  of  the  Kand  was,  naturally  enough,  that  one  which 
included  the  South  African  Uitlander.  These  men,  born  in  South 
Africa,  or  having  spent  the  best  years  of  their  lives  there,  felt  extremely 
bitter  against  the  Boer  Government,  and  were  moved  by  feelings  which 
were  not  in  any  way  connected  with  considerations  of  material  gain. 
With  them  were  closely  associated  men  of  all  nationalities  who  had 
determined  to  make  their  homes  in  the  Transvaal,  and  these  formed 
the  class  which  has  been  disparagingly  referred  to  as  '  the  political 
element,'  but  which  the  experience  of  every  country  shows  to  be  the 
backbone  of  a  nation.  Thej'  were,  in  fact,  the  men  who  meant  to  have 
a  hand  in  the  future  of  South  Africa.  After  them  came  the  much 
larger  class  whose  interest  in  the  reforms  was  based  mainly  upon  the 
fact  that  they  suffered  from  the  abuses  and  over-taxation  of  the 
Government. 

For  several  years  a  very  strong  feeling  against  the  capitalists  had 
ruled  in  Johannesburg.  Men  who  thoroughly  knew  the  Boer  had 
prophesied,  and  continued  throughout  to  prophesy,  that  absolutely 
nothing  would  be  done  to  improve  the  conditions,  and  that  the  capital- 
ists might  as  well  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  general  public  early  in  the 
day  as  be  forced  to  do  so  later,  after  spending  their  thousands  in  fruit- 
less efforts  for  reform,  and  after  committing  themselves  to  a  policy 
which  would  be  regarded  as  selfish,  pusillanimous,  and  foolish.  The 
moneyed  men  no  doubt  occupied  a  very  prominent  and  powerful 
position.  They  were  constantly  besought  by  the  Keform  leaders  to 
side  with  them  ;  they  were  looked  to  by  the  Progressive  Party  in  the 
Boer  camp  to  aid  reform  by  peaceful  measures  only,  to  exercise  all  theu' 
influence  towards  preventing  rash  or  violent  measures  being  taken  by 
the  more  excited  party,  and  to  trust  to  time  and  patience  to  achieve 
those  results  which  they  were  all  honestly  desirous  of  bringing  about ; 
and  they  were  approached,  as  has  been  stated,  by  the  President  and 
his  party  when  moments  of  danger  arrived,  and  when  it  was  felt  that 
their  influence  could  be  used  towards  the  preservation  of  peace — as 
witness  the  Loch  incident. 

'  It  is  no  crime  to  be  a  capitalist,'  said  one  commentator  on  the  late 
events,  and  neither  is  it  necessary  to  attribute  to  this  section  of  the 
community  motives  of  patriotism  to  justify  their  association  with  the 


96  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Reform  movement.  *It  is  not  intended  to  suggest  that  the  men  who 
did  associate  themselves  eventually  with  it  were  not  moved  by  any 
higher  consideration  than  that  of  protecting  their  interests — in  many 
cases  a  far  larger  view  than  this  was  taken;  but  it  may  be  asked, 
assuming  that  the  capitalists  were  not  moved  by  higher  considerations, 
What  is  there  in  their  position  which  should  debar  them  from  endea- 
vouring to  introduce  the  reforms  which  would  benefit  them  only 
equally  with  every  other  honest  man  in  the  community  ? 

Most  of  the  wealthy  houses  in  the  Transvaal  are  either  offshoots  of 
or  have  supporting  connections  with  firms  in  England  or  on  the  Conti- 
nent. Between  them  and  their  principals  much  correspondence  had 
taken  place  on  the  political  situation.  As  far  as  these  houses  were  con- 
cerned, it  was  impossible  for  them  to  enter  upon  any  movement  with- 
out the  consent  of  their  European  associates.  For  this  reason  the 
Reform  movement,  as  it  eventually  took  place,  has  in  some  ways  the 
appearance  of,  and  has  very  frequently  been  stigmatized  as,  an 
organization  planned  and  promoted  outside  the  Transvaal.  The  fact 
is  that  Mr.  Alfred  Beit,  of  the  firm  of  Wernher,  Beit  and  Co.,  London, 
and  Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes,  managing  director  of  the  Consolidated  Gold- 
fields,  may  be  regarded  as  the  chiefs  to  whom  the  ultimate  decision  as 
to  whether  it  was  necessary,  from  the  capitalistic  point  of  view,  to  resort 
to  extreme  measures  was  necessarily  left.  Each  of  these  gentlemen 
controls  in  person  and  through  his  business  associates  many  millions 
of  money  invested  in  the  Transvaal ;  each  of  them  was,  of  course,  a 
heavy  sufferer  under  the  existing  conditions  affecting  the  mining 
industry,  and  each,  as  a  business  man,  must  have  been  desirous  of 
reform  in  the  administration.  Mr.  Beit  acted  in  concert  with  Mr.  Lionel 
Phillips,  of  H.  Eckstein  and  Co.,  the  Johannesburg  representatives  of 
Wernher,  Beit  and  Co.  Mr.  Rhodes  was  represented  by  his  brother. 
Colonel  Francis  Rhodes,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Hammond,  of  the  Consolidated 
Goldfields  Company  in  Johannesburg.  Mr.  George  Farrer,  another 
very  large  mine-owner,  who  joined  a  little  later  than  the  others,  %\'ith 
the  gentlemen  above  named,  may  be  considered  to  have  represented 
the  capitalist  element  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  Reform  movement. 
The  other  elements  were  represented  by  Mr.  Charles  Leonard,  the 
chairman  of  the  National  Union,  and  one  or  two  other  prominent 
members  of  that  body. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  with  v/hom  the  idea  of  the  movement,  in- 
cluding the  arrangement  with  Dr.  Jameson,  originated.  Perhaps  it 
germinated  when  Dr.  Jameson  read  the  life  of  CUve !  Probably  it 
was  the  result  of  discussion,  and  no  one  man's  idea.  At  any  rate,  arms 
and  ammunition  were  purchased,  and  arrangements  were  made  by 
which  they  should  be  smuggled  into  the  country  concealed  in  machinery 
or  gold-mining  appliances.  During  the  month  of  November  Messrs. 
Leonard  and  Phillips  went  to  Capetown  to  see  Mr.  Rhodes,  in  order  to 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  97 

assure  themselves  finally  as  to  the  course  which  was  to  be  pursued. 
The  position  of  Mr.  Rhodes  in  the  matter  was  recognised  by  them  to 
be  a  difficult  one.  Whilst  as  the  managing  director  of  the  Consolidated 
Goldfields  he  had  as  much  right  as  any  other  man  interested  in  the 
Transvaal  would  have  to  concern  himself  in  a  movement  of  this  nature, 
his  right  to  act  in  his  capacity  of  managing  director  of  the  Chartered 
Company  would  depend  entirely  on  the  nature  of  the  part  which  he 
professed  to  play ;  but  his  position  as  Prime  Minister  of  the  Colony 
made  the  already  difficult  position  much  more  complicated.  Realizing 
this,  Messrs,  Leonard  and  Phillips,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  others,  deter- 
mined to  have  a  perfectly  clear  understanding,  and  to  ascertain  from 
Mr.  Rhodes  definitely  what  were  his  objects  in  associating  himself  with 
the  movement.  The  matter  was  discussed  at  Mr.  Rhodes's  house,  and 
the  report  given  by  the  two  deputies  to  their  colleagues  on  their  return 
was  that  Mr.  Rhodes  frankly  admitted  that  he  had  two  objects  in 
view  :  one  was  to  obtain  an  amelioration  of  the  conditions  such  as  he 
was  entitled  to  claim  as  representing  an  enormous  amount  of  capital 
invested  in  the  Transvaal ;  the  other  object  is  best  described  by  Mr. 
Leonard.  'We  read  to  him,'  said  that  gentleman  when  reporting  to 
his  comrades  the  result  of  his  visit,  '  the  draft  of  our  declaration  of 
rights.  He  was  leaning  against  the  mantelpiece  smoking  a  cigarette, 
and  when  it  came  to  that  part  of  the  document  in  which  we  refer  to 
Free  Trade  in  South  African  products  he  turned  round  suddenly  and 
said :  "  That  is  what  I  want.  That  is  all  I  ask  of  you.  The  rest  will 
come  in  time.  We  must  have  a  beginning,  and  that  will  be  the 
beginning.  If  you  people  get  your  rights,  the  Customs  Union,  Railway 
Convention,  and  other  things  will  all  come  in  time."  He  then  added 
that  we  must  take  our  own  time  about  this  movement,  and  that  he 
would  keep  Jameson  on  the  frontier  as  long  as  it  was  necessary  as  a 
moral  support,  and  also  to  come  to  our  assistance  should  we  get  our- 
selves into  a  tight  place.  We  asked  hiin  how  he  hoped  to  recoup 
himself  for  his  share  of  the  expense  in  keeping  Jameson's  force  on 
the  border,  which  should  be  borne  by  us  jointly.  He  said  that,  see- 
ing the  extent  of  his  interests  in  the  country,  he  would  be  amply 
repaid  by  the  improvement  in  the  conditions  which  it  was  intended 
to  efi'ect.' 

It  has  since  been  suggested  that  the  object  of  the  movement  was  to 
'  steal  the  country '  and  to  annex  it  to  Rhodesia,  in  order  to  re- 
habilitate the  Chartered  Company.  The  suggestion  is  too  ludicrous 
for  serious  discussion.  It  must  be  obvious  to  anyone  that  the  persons 
most  concerned  in  the  movement,  and  whose  interests  lay  in  the  Rand, 
would  be  the  very  last  to  consent  to  any  such  scheme.  There  appears 
to  be  no  conceivable  basis  upon  which  such  an  arrangement  could  have 
been  entered  into,  and  it  is  quite  clear  that  no  sensible  business  man 
having  interests  in  a  rich  country  in  a  comx)aratively  advanced  state  of 

7 


98  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

development  would  consent  to  share  that  certainty  with  a  new  country 
such  as  Rhodesia,  the  value  of  which,  however  promising,  has  still  to 
be  proved.  Notwithstanding  the  ludicrous  nature  of  the  charge,  it 
is  quite  certain  that  the  Boers  have  a  deep-rooted  conviction  of  its 
truth. 

The  arrangements  with  Dr.  Jameson  were  made  with  him  in  person. 
During  the  month  of  September  he  visited  Johannesburg,  and  it  was 
then  agreed  that  he  should  maintain  a  force  of  some  1,600  mounted 
men,  fully  equipped,  a  number  of  Maxims,  and  some  field  artillery ; 
that  he  was,  in  addition  to  this,  to  have  with  him  1,500  spare  rifles 
and  a  quantity  of  spare  ammunition  ;  and  that  about  5,000  rifles,  three 
Maxim  guns,  and  1,000,000  rounds  of  ammunition  were  to  be  smuggled 
into  Johannesburg.  It  was  calculated  that  in  the  town  itself  there 
would  be,  perhaps,  1,000  rifles  privately  owned.  Thus,  in  the  event 
of  a  junction  of  forces  being  effected,  Johannesburg  would  be  able  to 
command  about  9,000  armed  men,  with  a  fair  equipment  of  machine- 
guns  and  cannon.  Nor  was  this  all,  for  on  the  original  plan  it  was 
intended  to  seize  the  fort  and  magazines  at  Pretoria.  And  circum- 
stances favoured  the  plans  of  the  Johannesburg  men.  The  surround- 
ing wall  of  the  fort,  a  mere  barrack,  had  been  removed  on  one  side  in 
order  to  effect  some  additions ;  there  were  only  about  100  men  stationed 
there,  and  all  except  half  a  dozen  could  be  counted  on  as  being  asleep 
after  9  p.m.  There  never  was  a  simpler  sensational  task  in  the  world 
than  that  of  seizing  the  Pretoria  fort — fifty  men  could  have  done  it. 
But  there  was  more  to  be  done  than  the  mere  taking.  In  the  fort 
there  were  known  to  be  some  10,000  rifles,  ten  or  twelve  field-pieces, 
and  12,000,000  rounds  of  small- arm  ammunition ;  and  it  was  designed 
to  seize  the  fort  and  the  railway  on  the  night  of  the  outbreak,  and,  by 
means  of  one  or  two  trains,  to  carry  off  as  much  of  the  material  as 
possible  and  destroy  the  rest. 

Association  with  Dr.  Jameson  as  the  leader  of  an  invading  force  is 
the  one  portion  of  their  programme  which  the  Reform  leaders  find  it 
extremely  difficult  to  justify.  As  long  as  the  movement  was  confined 
to  the  Uitlanders  resident  in  the  Transvaal  the  sympathy  of  South 
Africa  and  indeed  of  the  world  was  with  them.  It  was  the  alliance 
with  the  foreign  invader  which  forfeited  that  sympathy.  That  the 
eventual  intention  of  the  Reformers  was  only  to  call  upon  Dr.  Jameson 
in  case  they  found  themselves  attacked  by  and  unable  to  cope  with  the 
Boers  is  a  fact,  but  it  is  only  fair  to  Dr.  Jameson  to  note  that  this  was 
a  modification  of  the  original  arrangement  by  which  both  forces  were 
to  act  simultaneously  and  in  concert — when  the  signal  should  be  given 
from  Johannesburg. 

On  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Jameson's  second  visit  to  Johannesburg, 
towards  the  end  of  November,  the  following  letter  of  invitation  was 
written  and  handed  to  him : 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  99 

To  Dr.  Janieson. 

Johannesburg.  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

The  position  of  matters  in  this  State  has  become  so  critical  that  we  are 
assured  that  at  no  distant  period  there  will  be  a  conflict  between  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  Uitlander  population.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  us  to 
recapitulate  what  is  now  matter  of  history  ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  the  position 
of  thousands  of  Englishmen  and  others  is  rapidly  becoming  intolerable.  Not 
satisfied  with  making  the  Uitlander  population  pay  virtually  the  whole  of  the 
revenue  of  the  country  while  denying  them  representation,  the  policy  of  the 
Government  has  been  steadily  to  encroach  upon  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  and 
to  undermine  the  security  for  property  to  such  an  extent  as  to  cause  a  very 
deep  -  seated  sense  of  discontent  and  danger.  A  foreign  corporation  of 
Hollanders  is  to  a  considerable  extent  controlling  our  destinies,  and  in  con- 
junction with  the  Boer  leaders  endeavouring  to  cast  them  in  a  mould  which 
is  wholly  foreign  to  the  genius  of  the  people.  Every  public  act  betrays  the 
most  positive  hostility,  not  only  to  everything  English,  but  to  the  neighbour- 
ing States. 

Well,  in  short,  the  internal  policy  of  the  Government  in  such  as  to  have 
roused  into  antagonism  to  it,  not  only  practically  the  whole  body  of  Uitlanders, 
but  a  large  number  of  the  Boers  ;  while  its  external  policy  has  exasperated 
the  neighbouring  States,  causing  the  possibility  of  great  danger  to  the  peace 
and  independence  of  this  Eepublic.  Public  feeling  is  in  a  condition  of 
smouldering  discontent.  All  the  petitions  of  the  people  have  been  refused 
with  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  contempt ;  and  in  the  debate  on  the  Franchise 
petition,  signed  by  nearly  40,000  people,  one  member  challenged  the 
Uitlanders  to  fight  for  the  rights  they  asked  for,  and  not  a  single  member 
spoke  against  him.  Not  to  go  into  details,  we  may  say  that  the  Government 
has  called  into  existence  all  the  elements  necessary  for  armed  conflict.  The 
one  desire  of  the  people  here  is  for  fair  play,  the  maintenance  of  their  inde- 
pendence, and  the  preservation  of  those  public  liberties  without  which  life  is 
not  worth  living.  The  Government  denies  these  things,  and  violates  the 
national  sense  of  Englishmen  at  every  turn. 

What  we  have  to  consider  is,  AVhat  will  be  the  condition  of  things  here  in 
the  event  of  a  conflict  ?  Thousands  of  unarmed  men,  women,  and  children 
of  our  race  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  well-armed  Boers,  while  property  of 
enormous  value  will  be  in  the  greatest  peril.  Wo  cannot  contemplate  the 
i'uture  without  the  gravest  apprehensions.  All  feel  that  we  are  justified  in 
taking  any  steps  to  prevent  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  to  insure  the  pro- 
tection of  our  rights. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances  that  we  feel  constrained  to  call  upon  you  to 
come  to  our  aid,^  should  a  disturbance  arise  here.     The  circumstances  are  so 

^  The  date  of  20th  December,  1895,  was  filled  in  by  Dr.  Jameson  when  he 
decided  to  start  and  to  publish  the  letter. 

^  When  this  letter  was  published  by  Dr.  Jameson  and  cabled  to  the  London 
Times  the  sense  of  it  was  very  gravely — but  doubtless  unintentionally — 
altered  by  terminating  this  sentence  with  the  word  '  aid, '  and  carrying  the 
remaining  words  into  the  next  sentence. 

(July,  1899.)  At  the  Westminster  inquiry  it  transpired  that  on  Decem- 
ber 20  Mr.  Rhodes  instructed  Dr.  Harris  to  wire  for  a  copy  of  the  letter. 
Dr.  Jameson  forwarded  it  after  filling  in  that  day's  date.  On  December  30, 
Dr.  Harris,  again  acting  on  Mr.  Rhodes's  instructions,  telegraphed  the  letter 
to  the  Times,  having  altered  the  date  to  28th,  and  prefaced  it  with  the  state- 

7—2 


100  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

extreme  that  we  cannot  but  believe  tliat  you  and  the  men  under  you  will  not 
fail  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  people  who  will  be  so  situated.  We  guarantee 
any  expense  that  may  reasonably  be  incurred  by  you  in  helping  us,  and  ask 
you  to  believe  that  nothing  but  the  sternest  necessity  has  prompted  this 
appeal. 

Charles  Leonard. 

Lionel  Phillips. 

Francis  Rhodes. 

John  Hays  Hammond. 

George  Farrar. 

The  letter  was  drafted  by  Mr.  Charles  Leonard,  and  was  signed  then 
by  four  out  of  five  signatories,  the  fifth  signature  being  added  some 
weeks  later  in  Cape  Town.  It  was  not  dated,  and  was  to  be  used 
only  privately  and  in  case  of  necessity,  for  the  purpose  of  excusing 
Dr.  Jameson  to  the  directors  of  the  Chartered  Company  ^and  the 
Imperial  authorities  in  the  course  which  it  was  intended  to  take. 

Various  plans  were  discussed,  and  even  dates  were  provisionally 
arranged.  The  first  arrangement  agreed  to  was  that  Dr.  Jameson 
should  start  two  days  before  the  intended  outbreak  in  Johannesburg. 
This  was  agreed  to  for  the  time  being,  but  subsequent  discussion  con- 
vinced the  leaders  that  there  were  the  gravest  objections  to  such  a 
course,  and  it  was  therefore  decided  that  Dr.  Jameson  should  be 
notified  to  start  from  his  camp  on  the  same  night  as  the  outbreak  in 
Johannesburg.  The  dates  of  December  28  and  January  4  were  in 
turn  provisionally  decided  upon,  but  the  primary  condition  of  these 
arrangements  was  that  under  no  circumstances  should  Dr.  Jameson 
move  without  receiving  the  word  from  the  Johannesburg  party. 

"With  reference  to  the  question  of  going  out  to  meet  Dr.  Jameson  or 
giving  him  assistance,  the  only  thing  that  was  discussed  was  that  an 
officers'  patrol  should  be  sent  out  to  meet  him,  to  escort  him  to  his 
camp.  There  was  no  doubt  entertained  as  to  the  ability  of  Dr.  Jameson 
and  the  force  which  it  was  believed  he  would  command  to  come  in 
without  assistance,  or  the  arrangement  would  never  have  been  made. 
The  idea  of  the  association  with  him  was,  of  course,  that  he  should 
assist  the  Reformers — not  they  assist  him ;  and  the  proposal  regarding 
the  officers'  patrol  was  one  to  which  he  only  consented  after  scouting 
the  notion  of  any  co-operation. 

During  the  weeks  which  followed  the  conclusion  of  the  arrangement 
considerable  dissatisfaction  was  felt  at  the  very  slow  progress  made  in 
obtaining  arms.  The  number  originally  agreed  to  was  deemed  to  be 
sufficient  but  no  more  ;  and  when  it  was  first  found  that  it  would  not 
be  possible  to  obtain  this  number,  but  that  a  few  hundreds  less  would 
have  to  be  accepted,  doubts  were  freely  expressed  as  to  the  wisdom  of 
proceeding  until  a  sufficient  supply  had  been  obtained.     When  on  two 

ment  that  the  letter  had  been  'sent  on  Saturday  (28)  to  Dr.  Jameson, 
Maf eking. ' 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  TIlE.K.OA^^^l^EjtTT  5.01 

subsequent  occasions  it  was  again  notified  that  still  a  few  hundreds 
less  would  have  to  be  accepted,  some  members  of  the  Eeform  Party 
were  very  emphatic  in  their  objections  to  proceeding  any  further  until 
they  should  be  satisfied  that  the  undertakings  upon  the  strength  of 
which  they  had  entered  upon  the  arrangement  would  be  faithfully 
adhered  to.  On  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Jameson's  last  visit  it  had  been 
extracted  from  him  that  instead  of  1,500  men  he  would  probably  start 
with  from  800  to  1,000.  These  discrepancies  and  alterations  caused 
the  liveliest  dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  those  who  realized  that 
they  were  entering  upon  a  very  serious  undertaking ;  but  although  the 
equipment  seemed  poor,  reliance  was  always  placed  on  the  taking 
of  Pretoria  Fort.  That  at  any  rate  was  a  certainty,  and  it  would 
settle  the  whole  thing  without  a  blow  ;  for  Johannesburg  would  have 
everything,  and  the  Boers  would  have  rifles,  but  neither  ammunition 
nor  field-guns.  Without  doubt  the  Pretoria  arsenal  was  the  key  of 
the  position,  and  it  is  admitted  by  Boer  and  alien  alike  that  it  lay  there 
unguarded,  ready  to  be  picked  up,  and  that  nothing  in  the  world  could 
have  saved  it — except  what  did  1 

On  or  about  December  19,  Messrs.  WooUs- Sampson  and  A.  Bailey, 
two  Johannesburg  men  concerned  in  the  movement,  who  had  been  in 
communication  with  Mr.  Rhodes  and  others  in  Cape  Town,  arrived  in 
Johannesburg,  and  indicated  clearly  that  the  question  as  to  which  flag 
was  to  be  raised  was  either  deemed  to  be  a  relatively  unimportant  one 
or  one  concerning  which  some  of  the  parties  had  not  clearly  and 
honestly  expressed  their  intentions.  In  sunple  truth,  it  appeared  to 
be  the  case  that  Dr.  Jameson  either  thought  that  the  Johannesburg 
Reformers  were  quite  indifferent  on  the  subject  of  the  flag,  or  assumed 
that  the  provisions  for  the  maintenance,  of  the  Transvaal  flag  were 
merely  talk,  and  that  the  Union  Jack  would  be  hoisted  at  once. 
Nothing  was  further  from  the  truth.  The  Reform  Party  in  Johannes- 
burg included  men  to  whom  the  Union  Jack  is  as  dear  as  their  own 
heart's  blood,  but  it  also  included  many  others  to  whom  that  flag  does 
not  appeal — men  of  other  nationalities  and  other  associations  and 
other  sympathies.  It  included — perhaps  the  strongest  element  of  all 
— those  men  whose  sympathies  were  naturally  and  most  strongly  all 
for  British  rule,  which  they  beheved  to  be  the  best  in  the  world, 
but  whose  judgment  showed  them  that  to  proclaim  that  rule  would  be 
to  defeat  the  very  objects  they  honestly  had  in  view,  and  who  would 
have  regarded  the  change  of  flag  at  the  last  moment  as  an  unprincipled 
deception  of  those  comrades  who  had  been  induced  to  co-operate  for 
reform  and  not  for  annexation.  It  had  been  repeatedly  aiid  em- 
phatically stated  that  the  object  was  not  to  deprive  the  Boer  of  his 
independence  or  the  State  of  its  autonomy,  but  to  alter  the  sj^stem  of 
government  in  such  a  way  as,  first  to  obtain  betterment  of  the  economic 
conditions  which  affect  everyone,  and  afterwards  to  induce  a  policy 


1027.,  \\,'\  ;■ ;  •: ,  ,TifiJ  Tt.mm^KL  from  within 

more  in  accordance  with  the  general  South  African  sentiment — in 
fact,  to  get  the  Transvaal  into  line  with  the  other  South  African 
States,  in  the  same  way,  for  instance,  as  the  Free  State  had  shown 
itself  disposed  to  go.  It  is  but  poor  work  explaining  failure,  yet  it 
must  surely  be  permissible  that  something  should  be  said  for  those 
who  alone  have  had  no  hearing  yet.  And  it  is  in  the  minds  of  the 
Reformers  that  the  professions  of  their  '  real  intentions  '  regarding  the 
flag  made  by  Dr.  Jameson  and  Mr.  Rhodes  might  appropriately  have 
been  made  before  the  raid,  instead  of  afterwards,  when  all  was  over. 
The  regard  for  definite  pledges,  which  in  the  Reformers  was  described 
as  merely  an  excuse  for  backing  out,  would,  if  it  had  been  observed  by 
all,  have  made  a  sickening  fiasco  impossible. 

No  sooner  had  a  doubt  been  raised  on  the  subject  of  the  flag  than 
a  trusted  emissary  was  despatched  to  inquire  from  Mr.  Rhodes  the 
meaning  of  this  tampering  v/ith  one  of  the  fundamental  conditions  of 
the  agreement.  The  messenger  returned  on  Christmas  morning,  and 
at  a  largely-attended  meeting  of  the  ringleaders  stated  that  he  had 
seen  Mr.  Rhodes,  and  had  received  from  him  the  assurance  that  it  was 
all  right  about  the  flag :  no  question  or  doubt  had  been  raised  on  the 
subject.  In  returning  to  Cape  Town,  however,  in  company  with 
Dr.  Rutherford  Harris,  he  learned  from  that  gentleman  that  it  was  by 
no  means  all  right,  and  gathered  that  it  was  assumed  that  the  provision 
about  maintaining  the  Transvaal  flag  was  so  much  talk  necessary  to 
secure  the  adhesion  of  some  doubtful  people.  The  announcement  was 
received  with  the  gravest  dissatisfaction.  Several  of  the  leading  men 
stated  emphatically  that  nothing  would  induce  them  to  take  part  in  the 
movement  unless  the  original  arrangement  was  loyally  Adhered  to.  In 
consequence  of  this  it  was  resolved  to  despatch  Messrs.  Charles 
Leonard  and  F.  H.  Hamilton  to  see  Mr.  Rhodes  and  to  obtain  from 
him  a  definite  guarantee  that  in  the  event  of  their  availing  themselves 
of  Dr.  Jameson's  help  under  any  conditions  the  latter  would  abide  by 
the  arrangements  agreed  upon. 

It  was  then  thought  that  a  week  would  be  sufficient  time  in  which 
to  'clear  up  the  flag  question  and  complete  preparations.  It  was 
decided  to  call  a  big  public  meeting  for  the  night  of  Monday,  January  6, 
not  with  the  intention  of  holding  the  meeting,  but  as  a  blin^^o  cover 
the  simultaneous  rising  in  Johannesburg  and  seizing  of  th^^psenal  in 
Pretoria  on  the  night  of  Saturday,  January  4.  With  this  i^tmind  it 
was  arranged  to  publish,  in  the  form  of  a  manifesto, ^  the^Jiddress 
which  Mr.  Charles  Leonard  had  prepared  for  the  meeting.        f' 

Among  the  Reformers  there  had  always  been  a  considerable  section 
who  regarded  the  alliance  or  arrangement  with  Dr.  Jameson  as  a  very 
doubtful  advantage.     It  was  this  section  which  strongly  and  success- 
fully opposed  the  suggestion  that  he  should  start  before  an  actual 
^  See  Appendix  I.  for  the  full  text  of  Manifesto, 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  103 

outbreak.  The  diiference  of  opinion  was  not  such  as  to  cause  division 
in  the  ranks,  but  yet  sufficient  to  keep  alive  discussion  as  to  how  the 
common  aim  could  be  achieved  without  risk  of  the  complications 
which  external  aid  in  the  initial  stages  would  be  sure  to  cause.  To 
this  feeling  of  doubt  was  added  a  sense  of  distrust  when  Dr.  Jameson's 
importunity  and  impatience  became  known;  and  when  the  question 
of  the  flag  was  raised  there  were  few,  if  any,  among  those  con- 
cerned in  the  movement  who  did  not  feel  that  the  tail  was  trying  to 
wag  the  dog.  The  feeling  was  so  strong  that  many  were  prepared  to 
abandon  the  whole  scheme  and  start  de  novo  rather  than  continue  an 
rmdertaking  in  which  it  looked  as  though  they  were  being  fooled. 
Hence  the  despatch  of  Messrs.  Leonard  and  Hamilton  on  Christmas  Day. 
Confidence  in  their  power  to  control  Dr.  Jameson  and  direct  the 
movement,  as  they  considered  they  had  the  right  and  ability  to  do, 
had  been  so  shaken  in  the  Eeformers  that  as  soon  as  Messrs.  Leonard 
and  Hamilton  had  been  sent  they  began  to  discuss  a  complete  change 
of  plans,  and  awaited  only  the  reply  from  Capetown  before  taking  the 
first  steps  in  the  prosecution  of  the  new  programme.  The  plan  most 
favoured  was  that  the  importation  and  distribution  of  arms  should  be 
continued  as  speedily  and  as  secretly  as  possible ;  that,  instead  of  an 
invading  force,  as  many  armed  and  trained  men  as  could  be  obtained 
should  be  brought  in,  nominally  as  mechanics  or  men  seeking  employ- 
ment on  the  mines ;  that  the  public  meeting  called  for  January  6 
should  be  held,  and  made  as  large  and  demonstrative  as  possible,  and 
a  demand  made  to  the  Volksraad  to  grant  the  redress  of  the  grievances 
complained  of ;  and,  failing  reasonable  concessions,  that  they  should 
rise  in  arms  and  at  the  same  time  appeal  to  England,  as  the  para- 
mount Power,  or  to  the  other  South  African  Governments,  to  mediate 
and  so  avert  civil  war.  It  was  believed,  and  with  much  reason,  that 
the  Boers,  knowing,  as  they  then  inevitably  would,  that  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition  had  been  smuggled  in,  and 
knowing  also  that  the  sentiment  of  South  Africa,  including  the  Free 
State,  was  all  in  favour  of  considerable  concessions  to  the  Uitlanders, 
would  have  hesitated  to  take  the  initiative  against  Johannesburg,  and 
would  either  have  yielded  to  the  pressure  of  the  general  South  African 
opinion,  and  have  accepted  the  mediation  of  the  High  Commissioner, 
or  would  have  offered  considerable  reforms.  The  Kruger  party,  it  was 
well  known,  would  proceed  to  any  extreme  rather  than  concede  any- 
thing to  the  Uitlanders ;  but  at  that  time  the  majority  of  the  Boers 
were  opposed  to  the  Kruger  policy  of  favouring  the  Hollanders  and 
Germans  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  Uitlanders,  and  this  majority 
would  not  have  consented  to  measures  calculated  to  embroil  them 
with  the  people  who  had  made  their  country  prosperous,  and  even  to 
imperil  the  very  existence  of  the  State,  whilst  an  alternative  course  so 
easy  as  the  one  presented  lay  open  to  them. 


104  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

On  the  day  following  the  despatch  of  Messrs.  Leonard  and  Hamilton 
to  Capetown  it  was  decided  to  send  messengers  to  Dr.  Jameson  to 
emphatically  prohibit  any  movement  on  his  part,  also  to  explain  to 
him  the  position  of  affairs  in  Johannesburg  with  reference  to  the  flag, 
and  above  all  to  impress  upon  him  the  condition  of  unpreparedness. 
Major  Heany  was  sent  by  train  via  Kimberley,  and  in  order  to 
facilitate  his  travelling,  a  telegram  was  sent  to  Mr.  Ehodes  in  Cape- 
town asking  him  to  arrange  for  a  special  train,  and  acquainting  him 
with  the  purpose  of  the  trip.  Captain  Holden  was  sent  on  horseback 
across  country  to  Pitsani.  Both  gentlemen  carried  the  most  definite 
instructions  to  Dr.  Jameson  on  no  account  to  move.  Both  gentlemen 
have  since  stated  that  they  delivered  the  messages  in  word  and  in 
spirit  absolutely  as  they  were  given  to  them  in  Johannesburg,  and 
that  they  carried  no  private  messages  whatever  from  any  individual 
member  of  the  Committee  in  any  way  conflicting  with  the  purport  of 
the  official  message  with  which  they  were  charged. 

On  the  Thursday,  Friday,  and  Saturday  telegrams  and  messages 
were  received  from  Dr.  Jameson,  all  revealing  impatience  and  a  desire, 
if  not  an  intention,  to  disregard  the  wishes  of  the  Johannesburg 
people.  Replies  were  sent  to  him  and  to  the  Capetown  agents,  pro- 
testing against  the  tone  adopted,  urging  him  to  desist  from  the  en- 
deavour to  rush  the  Johannesburg  people,  as  they  were  pushing 
matters  on  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  and  hoped  for  a  successful  issue 
without  recourse  to  violent  measures,  and  stating  emphatically  that 
the  decision  must  be  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  Johannesburg  as 
agreed,  otherwise  there  would  be  certain  disaster.  Besides  what  would 
be  regarded  as  the  official  expressions  and  messages  of  the  Johannes- 
burg people,  several  individual  members  of  the  party  telegraphed  to 
Dr.  Jameson  informing  him  of  the  position,  and  adding  their  personal 
advice  and  testimony.  The  probability  of  achieving  success  without 
firing  a  shot  was  referred  to  in  the  sense  of  a  most  satisfactory  pros- 
pect. It  did  not  occur  to  any  one  among  the  Johannesburg  party  that 
it  was  this  prospect  that  moved  Dr.  Jameson  to  start.  That  idea  is  of 
later  birth. 

On  Sunday  morning,  at  about  ten  o'clock,  two  telegrams  of  im- 
portance were  received.  The  first  was  from  Messrs.  Hamilton  and 
Leonard  to  the  following  effect :  '  We  have  received  perfectly  satis- 
factory assurance  from  Cecil  Rhodes,  but  a  misunderstanding  un- 
doubtedly exists  elsewhere.  In  our  opinion,  continue  preparations, 
but  carefully,  and  without  any  sort  of  hurry,  as  entirely  fresh  depar- 
ture will  be  necessary.  In  view  of  changed  condition,  Jameson  has 
been  advised  accordingly.'  Portions  of  this  message  were  in  code. 
It  left  Capetown  at  2.20  p.m.  on  Saturday,  the  28th,  and  was  received 
on  Sunday  at  about  ten  o'clock.  The  second  telegram  was  one  from 
Dr.   Jameson   to  his  brother,   Mr.   S,  W.  Jameson,   and  had  beep 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  105 

despatched  at  about  the  same  time.  It  was  in  the  Bedford- McNeil 
Code,  and  was  much  mutilated — so  much  so  that  it  was  thought  to 
have  been  purposely  done  in  the  telegraph  office  in  order  to  obscure 
the  meaning.  One  expression  was  clear,  however,  and  that  was  :  '  I 
shall  start  without  fail  to-morrow  night.'  It  concluded  with  the  words : 
'  Inform  Dr.  Wolff — distant  cutting.     He  will  understand.' 

The  words  '  distant  cutting '  did  not  occur  in  any  code-book.  Dr. 
Jameson  states  that  they  were  words  privately  agreed  upon  between 
him  and  Dr.  Wolff.  The  telegram  was  shown  to  Dr.  Wolff  as  soon 
as  he  could  be  found,  but  he  declared  himself  unable  to  throw  any 
light  whatever  upon  it.  It  was,  however,  clear  from  the  message  that 
on  Saturday  afternoon  it  had  been  Dr.  Jameson's  intention  to  dis- 
regard the  wishes  of  the  Committee,  and  to  start  on  Sunday  night, 
and  the  telegram  impressed  the  recipients  more  than  ever  with  the 
wisdom  of  their  action  in  sending  the  messengers  to  Capetown  and  to 
Pitsani  to  insist  upon  no  further  steps  being  taken.  It  is  of  little 
consequence  what  the  words  '  distant  cutting  '  reaUy  meant,  or  whether 
they  were,  or  should  have  been,  understood  by  any  of  the  parties. 
Major  Heany  and  Captain  Holden,  it  was  known,  could  not  have 
reached  Dr.  Jameson  at  the  time  the  message  was  despatched,  and 
therefore  no  more  importance  was  attached  to  this  than  to  the  other 
impatient  telegrams. 

It  was  assumed  that,  on  receiving  the  emphatic  messages  sent 
through  Major  Heany  and  Captain  Holden,  Dr.  Jameson  would 
realize  the  seriousness  of  the  position,  and  would,  in  fact,  abide  by  the 
arrangements  made  with  him.  Nor  was  this  all.  It  was  also  clear 
that  the  telegram  of  Mr.  Ehodes,  to  which  it  was  inferred  reference 
was  made  in  the  concluding  words  of  Messrs.  Hamilton's  and 
Leonard's  wire — '  Jameson  has  been  advised  accordingly  ' — could  not 
have  reached  Dr.  Jameson  at  the  time  his  telegram  to  his  brother  was 
despatched.  It  was  part  of  the  instructions  to  Messrs.  Hamilton  and 
Leonard  that  any  communications  which  they  might  desire  to  make 
to  Dr.  Jameson  should  pass  through  Mr.  Cecil  Ehodes  in  order  to 
insure  due  regard  being  paid  to  them.  There  was  therefore  no  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  the  Johannesburg  men  that  during  Saturday  after- 
noon— that  is  to  say,  more  than  twenty-four  hours  before  he  proposed 
moving — he  must  have  received  a  wire  forbidding  him  to  move. 

The  facts  here  given  were  sufficient  to  warrant  the  belief  that  all 
that  was  necessary  had  been  done  to  prevent  any  movement.  But  more 
reassuring  than  all  the  precautions  was  the  conviction  that  Dr.  Jameson, 
no  matter  how  much  he  might  '  bluff '  in  order  to  force  immediate 
action,  would  never  be  guilty  of  so  gross  a  breach  of  faith  as  to  start 
in  defiance  of  the  wishes  of  the  Johannesburg  people.  Extreme  dissatis- 
faction, of  course,  prevailed  in  the  minds  of  a  good  many  when  they 
learned  ot  the  efforts  made  by  him  to  force  their  hands,  and  this  feel- 


106  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

ing  was  intensified  by  the  report  brought  in  by  Dr.  Wolff,  who  had 
just  returned  from  seeing  Dr.  Jameson  at  Pitsani.  Dr.  Wolff  had 
arrived  at  Pitsani' on  the  previous  Tuesday,  and  was  then  greeted  by 
Dr.  Jameson  with  the  remark  that  he  had  '  as  nearly  as  possible  started 
for  Pretoria  last  night.'  It  was  felt  that  this  might  appear  to  be  a 
very  fine  and  dashing  thing  for  a  party  of  men  well  armed  and  trained 
and  able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  but  that  it  betrayed  great  indiffer- 
ence to  his  pledges,  as  well  as  to  the  fate  of  his  associates,  who,  as  he 
knew  perfectly  well,  had  not  even  the  arms  to  defend  themselves  from 
the  consequences  of  any  precipitate  action  on  his  part,  and  who  had, 
moreover,  the  responsibility  for  the  control  and  protection  of  unarmed 
Johannesburg. 

The  feeling  among  the  Eeformers  on  Sundaj'',  the  29th,  was  one  of 
considerable  relief  at  having  found  out  in  time  the  intention  of  their 
reckless  colleague,  and  at  having  taken  the  necessary  steps  to  control 
him.  Secure  in  the  belief  that  the  messages  from  Capetown  had  duly 
reached  Dr.  Jameson,  and  that  either  Major  Heany  or  Captain  Holden 
had  by  that  time  also  reached  him,  and  that  in  the  future  the  manage- 
ment of  their  affairs  would  be  left  in  their  own  hands,  they  continued 
during  Sunday  and  Monday,  the  29th  and  30th,  to  arrange  plans  on 
the  basis  before  indicated,  awaiting  in  the  meantime  further  commimi- 
cations  from  Messrs.  Hamilton  and  Leonard. 

In  the  meanwhile  it  became  generally  known  in  Johannesburg  that 
some  movement  was  afoot,  and  suppressed  excitement  and  expectancy 
became  everywhere  manifest.  On  Saturday,  December  28,  the  Pre- 
sident returned  from  his  annual  tour  through  certain  of  the  outlying 
districts.  On  his  journey  he  was  met  by  a  number  of  burghers  at 
Bronkhorst  Spruit,  the  scene  of  the  baitle  in  the  War  of  Independence, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Pretoria.  One  of  the  burghers,  an  old  Boer 
named  Hans  Botha,  who  was  the  opponent  of  Mr.  WooUs- Sampson  in 
the  *  duel '  at  the  battle  of  Zwartkoppies,  in  addressing  the  President, 
said  that  he  had  heard  that  there  was  some  talk  of  a  rising  in  Johan- 
nesbm'g,  and  added  that  although  he  had  many  bullets  in  him  (it  is 
stated  that  he  still  has  five  I),  he  could  find  room  for  more  if  it  was  a 
question  of  tackhng  the  Britishers.  The  President  replied  that  he  had 
heard  of  the  threatened  rising,  and  did  not  believe  it :  he  could  not  say 
what  was  likely  to  happen,  but  they  must  remember  this — if  they  wanted 
to  kill  a  tortoise,  they  must  wait  until  he  put  his  head  out  of  the  shell. 

In  an  interview  with  a  representative  of  the  press  immediately  after 
this  the  President  said  that  the  position  was  full  of  gravity,  and  might 
lead  to  disagreeable  consequences,  especially  to  the  mining  industry 
and  commercial  enterprise  generally ;  but  he  was  still  confident  that 
common-sense  would  prevail  in  Johannesburg,  and  expressed  the  con- 
viction that  the  law-abiding  portion  of  the  community,  which  included 
the  greater  part  of  the  English  and  other  nationalities,  would  support 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  107 

all  measures  for  the  preservation  of  law  and  order.  He  said  that  his 
endeavours  hitherto  to  secure  concessions  for  the  Uitlander  population 
had  been  frustrated  by  the  public  utterances  and  actions  of  irresponsible 
and  unscrupulous  agitators,  whose  methods  had  often  a  detrimental 
effect  on  the  Volksraad  and  on  the  burghers  throughout  the  Bepublic. 
The  first  commotion  created  was  by  the  flag  incident  some  years 
before  (1890),  which  caused  a  great  shock  to  confidence ;  another 
sinister  incident  was  the  refusal  of  a  portion  of  the  British  community 
to  serve  their  adopted  coimtry  in  the  Malaboch  War,  when  the  union 
of  Boer  and  Briton  against  the  common  enemy  was  nearly  brought 
about.  '  If  wiser  counsels  unfortunately  should  not  prevail,'  the  Pre- 
sident continued,  •  then  let  the  storm  arise,  and  the  wind  thereof  will 
separate  the  chaff  from  the  grain.  The  Government  will  give  every 
opportunity  for  free  speech  and  free  ventilation  of  grievances,  but  it  is 
fullj'  prepared  to  put  a  stop  to  any  movement  made  for  the  upsetting 
of  law  and  order.' 

On  the  same  day  the  President  was  interviewed  by  a  deputation  of 
Americans  from  Johannesburg.  They  were  men  of  the  highest  position 
and  influence  in  the  community,  and  were  earnestly  desirous  of 
securing  reforms,  but  they  were  impressed  with  the  idea  that  peaceful 
•means  had  not  yet  been  exhausted,  and  that  the  President  and  his 
Executive  would  listen  to  reason  if  they  were  convinced  that  serious 
consequences  would  follow  the  neglect  to  reform.  The  President 
received  them  civilly,  as  he  often  does  when  he  has  a  strong  hand  to 
play :  it  is  generally  when  his  cards  are  poor  that  he  gives  way  to  the 
paroxysms  of  rage  and  indulges  in  the  personal  abuse  and  violent 
behaviour  which  have  earned  for  him  so  unenviable  a  reputation.  He 
listened  to  all  that  had  been  advanced  by  the  deputation,  and  then 
said  that  '  it  was  no  time  to  talk  when  danger  was  at  hand.  That  was 
the  time  for  action.'  The  deputation  represented  to  him  that  there  was  no 
danger  at  hand  unless  the  President  by  his  own  act  precipitated  matters 
and  caused  the  trouble  himself,  that  matters  were  completely  in  his 
hands,  and  that  if  he  would  deal  with  the  people  in  a  liberal  and 
statesmanlike  way  and  grant  the  reforms  which  were  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  necessary,  there  would  not  be  anywhere  in  the 
world  a  more  law-abiding  and  loyal  community  than  that  of  Johannes- 
burg. The  President  answered  merely  by  the  question :  '  If  a  crisis 
should  occur,  on  which  side  shall  I  find  the  Americans  ?'  The  answer 
was :  '  On  the  side  of  liberty  and  good  government.'  The  President 
replied :  *  You  are  all  alike,  tarred  with  the  same  brush ;  you  are  British 
in  your  hearts.' 

In  reply  to  another  deputation,  representing  a  section  of  the  com- 
munity which  was  not  by  any  means  at  one  with  the  Eeformers,  but 
the  leading  members  of  which  still  urged  tka  necessity  for  reforms, 
the  President  said  :  '  Either  you  are  with  me  in  the  last  extremity  or 


108  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

you  are  with  the  enemy  ;  choose  which  course  you  will  adopt.  Call  a 
meeting  to  repudiate  the  Manifesto  in  its  entirety,  or  there  is  final 
rupture  between  us.'  The  gentlemen  addressed  declared  emphatically 
that  on  the  Manifesto  there  could  be  no  retreat.  On  that  Johannes- 
burg was  absolutely  at  one.  The  President  replied,  '  Then  I  shall 
know  how  to  deal  with  Johannesburg,'  and  left  the  room. 

The  various  business  associations  of  Johannesburg  and  Pretoria 
approached  the  President  at  different  hours  in  these  threatening  times, 
and  did  aU  that  was  possible  to  induce  him  to  make  reasonable  con- 
cessions. Although  numbers  of  his  followers  and  counsellors  were 
strongly  in  favour  of  doing  something  to  avert  the  coming  storm,  the 
President  himself  seemed  inclined  to  fight  until  the  last  ditch  was 
reached  rather  than  concede  anything.  In  reply  to  the  Mercantile 
Association,  he  said  that  he  was  quite  willing  to  give  the  franchise,  but 
that  it  would  be  to  those  who  were  really  worthy  of  it — those,  for 
instance,  who  rallied  round  the  Government  in  this  crisis  and  took  no 
part  in  the  mischievous  agitation  and  clamouring  for  so-called  reforms : 
all  malcontents  should  be  excluded.  In  fact,  he  made  it  perfectly 
plain  that  the  franchise  would  be  treated  as  a  huge  bribery  fund ;  and 
he  himself  was  introducing  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge  in  the  suggestion 
made  to  the  Association  with  a  view  to  splitting  up  the  Eeform  Party 
in  Johannesburg.  He,  however,  added  that  the  special  duties  on  food- 
stuffs would  be  immediately  removed  pending  confirmation  by  the 
Volksraad,  that  equal  subsidies  would  be  granted  to  Dutch  and  English 
schools  alike,  and  that  the  Netherlands  Eailway  Company  would  be 
approached  with  a  view  to  having  the  tariffs  reduced.  The  effect  of 
this  was,  however,  slightly  marred  by  the  concluding  sentence,  in 
which  he  stated  that,  '  as  he  had  kept  his  former  promises,  so  he  would 
do  his  best  to  keep  this.' 

In  reply  to  a  second  deputation  of  Americans,  the  President,  in  a 
moment  of  irritation,  said  that  it  was  impossible  to  grant  the  franchise 
to  the  Uitlander — American,  British,  or  other  ;  he  would  lose  his 
power  if  he  did ;  the  Government  would  no  longer  be  his.  A  member 
of  the  deputation  said :  *  Surely  if  we  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  you 
will  trust  us  ?'  The  President  hesitated  for  a  moment,  and  then  said  : 
'  This  is  no  time  to  talk  about  these  things ;  I  can  promise  you  nothing.' 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    REFORM    COMMITTEE 

On  Monday  morning  Mr.  S.  W.  Jameson  (a  brother  of  Dr.  Jameson, 
who,  although  suffering  acutely  from  rheumatic  fever,  insisted  on 
taking  his  share  of  the  work  and  worry  during  the  days  that  followed) 
received  a  telegram  addressed  to  Dr.  Wolff,  in  his  care.     The  latter 


THE  REFORM  COMMITTEE  109 

being  away  on  Monday,  Mr.  Jameson  translated  the  telegram  and 
showed  it  at  once  to  as  many  of  his  comrades  as  he  could  find.  It  was 
from  Dr.  Jameson,  despatched  from  Pitsani  at  9.5  a.m.  on  Sunday, 
and  ran  as  follows  :  '  Meet  me  as  arranged  before  you  left  on  Tuesday _^ 
night,  which  will  enable  us  to  decide  which  is  best  destination.  Make 
Advocate  Leonard  speak — make  cutting  to-night  without  fail.' 

Every  effort  was  made  to  find  Dr.  Wolff,  but  he — in  common  with 
others — believing  that  there  would  be  no  move  for  a  week,  was  away. 
This  telegram  was,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  disquieting.  It  showed,  so  it 
was  thought,  that  as  late  as  Sunday  morning  Dr.  Jameson  could  not 
have  received  the  countermands  by  Messrs.  Heany  and  Holden,  and  it 
indicated  that  it  must  have  been  a  near  thing  stopping  him  before  he 
actually  crossed  the  border.  As  a  matter  of  fact  Major  Heany  reached 
Dr.  Jameson  at  noon  on  Sunday ;  but  Captain  Holden  had  arrived  the 
night  before. 

Shortly  after  noon  Mr.  Abe  Bailey  received  and  showed  to  others  a 
telegram  purporting  to  come  from  '  Godolphin,'  Capetown,  to  the 
following  effect :  '  The  veterinary  surgeon  says  the  horses  are  now  all 
right ;  he  started  with  them  last  night ;  wiU  reach  you  on  Wednesday ; 
he  says  he  can  back  himself  for  seven  hundred.'  By  the  light  of 
subsequent  events  the  telegram  is  easily  interpreted,  but  as  Mr.  Bailey 
said  he  could  not  even  guess  who  '  Godolphin  '  might  be,  the  message 
remained  a  puzzle.  That  it  had  some  reference  to  Dr.  Jameson  was 
at  once  guessed,  indeed  Mr.  Bailey  would  not  have  shown  it  to  others 
concerned  in  the  movement  did  he  not  himself  think  so.  The  im- 
portance and  significance  of  the  message  entirely  depended  upon  who 
*  Godolphin '  was,  and  it  afterwards  transpired  that  the  sender  was 
Dr.  Kutherfoord  Harris,  who  states  that  he  took  the  first  and  safest 
means  of  conveying  the  news  that  Dr.  Jameson  had  actually  started  in 
spite  of  all.  Mysterious  and  unintelligible  as  it  was,  the  telegram 
caused  the  greatest  uneasiness  among  the  few  who  saw  it,  for  it  seemed 
to  show  that  an  unknown  someone  in  Capetown  was  under  the  im- 
pression that  Dr.  Jameson  had  started.  The  Eeformers,  however,  still 
rejected  the  idea  that  he  would  do  anything  so  mad  and  preposterous, 
and  above  all  they  were  convinced  that  had  he  started  they  would  not 
be  left  to  gather  the  fact  from  the  ambiguous  phrases  of  an  unknown 
person. 

AU  doubts,  however,  were  set  at  rest  when  between  four  and  half- 
past  four  on  Monday  afternoon  Mr.  A.  L.  Lawley  came  hurriedly  into 
the  room  where  several  of  the  leaders  were  met,  saying,  '  It  is  aU  up, 
boys.  He  has  started  in  spite  of  everything.  Bead  this  1'  and  at  the 
same  time  throwing  on  the  table  the  following  telegram  from  Mafeking : 
'  The  contractor  has  started  on  the  earthworks  with  seven  hundred 
boys ;  hopes  to  reach  terminus  on  Wednesday.' 

The    Reformers    realized    perfectly   well    the  full  significance   of 


110  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Dr.  Jameson's  action;  they  realized  that  even  if  he  succeeded  in 
reaching  Johannesburg,  he,  by  taking  the  initiative,  seriously  impaired 
the  justice  of  the  TJitlanders'  cause — indeed,  put  them  hopelessly  in  the 
wrong.  Apart  from  the  moral  or  political  aspects  of  the  question  there 
was  the  fact  that,  either  through  mistake  or  by  fatuous  impulse, 
Dr.  Jameson  had  plunged  them  into  a  crisis  for  which  as  he  knew  thej 
were  insufficiently  provided  and  prepared,  and  at  the  same  time 
destroyed  the  one  chance — the  one  certainty — on  which  they  had 
always  counted  for  arms  and  ammunition ;  by  starting  first  he  knocked 
out  the  foundation  of  the  whole  scheme — he  made  the  taking  of  the 
Pretoria  arsenal  impossible.  For  a  few  minutes  it  was  hoped  that  the 
chance  of  taking  the  arsenal  still  remained;  but  while  discussion  was 
still  proceeding  and  several  of  those  present  were  protesting  that  the 
news  could  not  be  true  (among  them  Mr.  S.  W.  Jameson,  who  stoutly 
maintained  that  his  brother  would  never  start  in  defiance  of  his 
pledges),  authentic  news  of  the  invasion  was  received  from  the  Govern- 
ment offices  ;  and  this  was  supplemented  a  few  minutes  later  by  the 
information  that  the  Government  had  known  it  at  an  early  hour  in 
the  morning,  and  that  Pretoria  was  then  full  of  armed  burghers.  The 
position  then  appeared  fairly  desperate. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  even  when  Dr.  Jameson  decided  to  start  in 
opposition  to  the  Committee's  wishes  it  was  not  deemed  necessary  to 
treat  them  with  the  candour  which  they  were  entitled  to  expect  from  a 
comrade.  It  is  well  known  that  Dr.  Jameson  never  had  700  men,  and 
that  he  started  with  less  than  500,  and  yet  the  Keformers  were  led  to 
understand  from  the  telegrams  above  quoted  that  he  was  starting  with 
700,  and  not  800  as  last  promised.  They  were  at  first  under  the 
impression  that  the  700  men  did  not  include  the  Bechuanaland  Border 
Police  who  were  to  join  him  after  starting,  so  that  it  was  still  thought 
that  he  had  over  800  men. 

Before  five  o'clock  messengers  had  been  sent  out  in  all  directions  to 
call  together  those  who  had  interested  themselves  in  the  movement,  or 
as  many  of  them  as  possible,  for  several  prominent  men,  knowing  only 
of  the  steps  taken  to  prevent  any  movement  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Jameson, 
were  not  at  hand.  As  many  as  possible,  however,  gathered  together, 
and  it  was  decided  to  take  instant  steps  to  put  the  town  in  a  state  of 
defence.  In  order  that  the  subsequent  actions  and  attitude  of  the 
Eeform  Committee  may  be  properly  understood  it  is  necessary  to 
explain  somewhat  fully  the  position  of  affairs  on  this  Monday  evening. 

As  soon  as  it  was  realized  that  the  news  was  beyond  all  doubt  true 
the  bitterest  censure  was  expressed  upon  Dr.  Jameson's  action,  and  it 
was  at  first  stated  by  many  that  either  Dr.  Jameson  or  Mr.  Ehodes  or 
both  had  dehberately  and  for  the  furtherance  of  their  personal  aims 
disregarded  in  treacherous  and  heartless  fashion  all  their  agreements. 
Soon,  however,  a  calmer  view  was  taken,  and  a  consideration  of  all  ^ 


THE  REFORM  COMMITTEE  111 

the  circumstances  induced  the  Eeformers  to  beheve  that  Dr.  Jameson 
had  started  in  good  faith,  but  under  some  misapprehension.  They 
recalled  the  various  reports  that  had  been  in  circulation  in  the  press 
about  conflicts  between  the  Boers  and  Uitlanders  at  the  Simmer  and 
Jack  and  Jumpers  mines,  the  reported  arrest  of  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips 
and  the  demand  of  ^80,000  bail — rumours  which  had  been  treated  by 
those  on  the  spot  as  too  ridiculous  to  gain  credence  anywhere,  but 
which  they  nevertheless  thought  might  have  reached  Dr.  Jameson  in 
such  guise  as  to  induce  him  to  take  the  step  which  he  had  taken.  It 
was  assumed  that  the  telegrams  sent  from  Johannesburg  and  Capetown 
to  stop  him  had  not  reached  him,  and  that  Messrs.  Heany  and  Holden 
had  also  failed  to  catch  him  before  he  started.  Opinions,  however, 
were  still  divided  as  to  whether  he  had  simply  lost  patience  and  come 
in  regardless  of  all  consequences,  or  had  been  really  misled  and  had 
dashed  in  to  the  assistance  of  Johannesburg.  The  position  was  at  best 
one  of  horrible  uncertainty,  and  divided  as  the  Committee  were  in  their 
opinions  as  to  his  motive,  they  could  only  give  him  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt  and  assume  that  there  was  behind  his  action  no  personal  aim 
and  no  deliberate  disregard  of  his  undertakings.  In  order  to  realize 
the  perplexity  of  the  position  it  must  be  understood  that  only  the  few 
who  happened  to  meet  on  Sunday  and  Monday  morning  knew  of  the 
telegrams  which  had  passed  during  the  previous  twenty-four  hours ; 
many  did  not  know  of  them  until  Pretoria  prison  gave  them  time  to 
compare  notes  ;  to  some  they  may  be  news  even  now.  There  was  no 
time  to  argue  then  I 

Knowing  the  poorness  of  the  equipment  of  Johannesburg  and  the 
unpreparedness  of  the  place  and  its  inhabitants,  the  more  logical  and 
cold-blooded  course  would  have  been  to  repudiate  Dr.  Jameson 
instantly  and  to  have  left  him  to  his  fate ;  but  against  this  was,  firstly, 
the  fact  publicly  admitted  that  he  had  remained  on  the  border  by 
arrangement  with  the  leaders  in  order  to  help  them  should  the  necessity 
arise;  next,  that  if  he  gave  heed  to  the  reports  which  were  being 
circulated  he  might  have  thought  that  the  necessity  had  arisen ;  and 
finally,  that  the  leaders  had  taken  such  steps  in  the  smuggling  in  of 
arms  and  the  arming  of  men  as  would  warrant  the  Boers,  and  indeed 
anybody  else,  in  associating  them  with  Dr.  Jameson,  so  that  they 
might  confidently  expect  to  be  attacked  as  accomplices  before  the  true 
facts  could  become  known.  They  realized  quite  well  that  they  had  a 
big  responsibility  to  the  unarmed  population  of  Johannesburg,  and  it 
was  with  the  object  of  fulfilling  that  obligation  that  they  decided  to 
arm  as  many  men  as  possible  and  to  fortify  and  defend  the  place  if 
attacked,  but,  in  view  of  the  impossibility  of  aggressive  measures 
being  successful,  to  take  no  initiative  against  the  Boers.  It  would  in 
any  case  have  been  entirely  useless  to  suggest  the  repudiation  of 
Dr.  Jameson  at  that  moment.     The  Johannesburg  people  would  never 


112  THE  TEANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

have  listened  to  such  a  suggestion,  nor  could  anyone  have  been  found 
to  make  it. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Eeform  Committee  have  been  charged 
with  the  crime  of  plunging  the  country  into  civil  war  with  a  miserable 
equipment  of  less  than  3,000  rifles,  it  is  only  fair  to  give  some  heed  to 
the  conditions  as  they  were  at  the  time,  and  to  consider  whether  any 
other  course  would  have  been  practicable,  and  if  practicable,  whether 
it  would  have  been  in  the  interests  of  any  considerable  section  of  the 
community.  To  the  Committee  the  course  to  be  taken  seemed  perfectly 
clear.  They  determined  to  defend  and  hold  the  town.  They  threw 
off  all  disguise,  got  in  all  the  arms  they  possibly  could,  organized  the 
various  military  corps,  and  made  arrangements  for  the  maintenance 
of  order  in  the  town  and  on  the  mines.  Throughout  Monday  night 
all  were  engaged  in  getting  in  arms  and  ammunition  and  doing  all 
that  could  be  done  to  enable  the  town  to  hold  its  own  against  possible 
attack. 

During  Monday  night  the  Eeform  Committee  came  into  existence. 
Those  who  had  so  far  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  agitation  had 
been  for  convenience  utilizing  Colonel  Ehodes's  office  in  the  Consoli- 
dated Goldfields  Company's  building.  Many  prominent  men  came 
forward  voluntarily  to  associate  themselves  with  the  movement,  and 
as  the  numbers  increased  and  work  had  to  be  apportioned  it  became 
evident  that  some  organization  would  be  necessary.  Those  who  had 
already  taken  part  in  the  movement  formed  themselves  into  a  com- 
mittee, and  many  other  prominent  men  joined  immediately.  The 
movement  being  an  entirely  public  one,  it  was  open  for  anyone  to 
join  provided  he  could  secure  the  approval  of  the  already  elected 
members.  The  body  so  constituted  was  then  called  the  Eeform 
Committee. 

The  following  is  the  first  notice  of  the  Eeform  Committee  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Johannesburg  Star;  and  it  indicates  the  position 
taken  up  : 

Notice  is  hereby  given  that  this  Committee  adheres  to  the  National  Union 
Manifesto,  and  reiterates  its  desire  to  maintain  the  independence  of  the 
Republic.  The  fact  that  rumours  are  in  course  of  circulation  to  the  effect 
that  a  force  has  crossed  the  Bechuanaland  border  renders  it  necessary  to  take 
active  steps  for  the  defence  of  Johannesburg  and  the  preservation  of  order. 
The  Committee  earnestly  desires  that  the  inhabitants  should  refrain  from 
taking  any  action  which  can  be  considered  as  an  overt  act  of  hostility  against 
the  Government. 

Telegrams  were  sent  to  the  High  Commissioner  and  to  the  Premier 
of  Cape  Colony  informing  them  that  owing  to  the  starting  of  Dr. 
Jameson  with  an  armed  force  into  the  Transvaal,  Johannesburg  had 
been  placed  in  a  position  of  extreme  peril,  which  they  were  utterly 
unprepared  to  guard  against,  and  urging  the  High  Commissioner  to 


THE  REFORM  COMMITTEE  113 

proceed  immediately  to  Johannesburg  in  order  to  settle  matters  and 
prevent  a  civil  war. 

Sub-committees  were  at  once  appointed,  partly  chosen  from  mem- 
bers of  the  Eeform  Committee  and  partly  from  others  who  had  inter- 
ested themselves  in  the  movement  and  had  come  forward  to  take  part, 
but  had  not  actually  joined  the  controlling  body.  The  matters  to  be 
dealt  with  were :  The  policing  of  the  town ;  the  control  of  the  natives 
thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  closing  of  the  mines ;  the  arrange- 
ments for  the  defence  of  the  town ;  the  commissariat  for  the  men 
bearing  arms  and  for  others  who  were  flocking  into  the  town;  the 
providing  for  the  women  and  children  who  had  been  brought  in  from 
the  mines  and  had  neither  food  nor  shelter.  These  matters  were  taken 
in  hand  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  before  nightfall  some  2,000  men 
had  been  supplied  with'  arms ;  the  Maxims  had  been  brought  in  and 
placed  in  position  on  the  hills  surrounding  the  town;  various  corps 
had  been  formed ;  a  commencement  had  been  made  in  the  throwing- 
up  of  earthworks  around  the  town ;  and  food- supplies  and  such  field 
equipment  as  could  be  got  together  had  been  provided  for  the  men. 
As  regards  the  town,  the  Government  police  having  disappeared,  it 
was  necessary  to  take  energetic  steps  to  prevent  actual  chaos  reigning. 
Ex- Chief  Detective  Trimble  was  appointed  to  organize  a  police  force, 
and  the  work  was  admirably  done.  Before  nightfall  the  Eeform 
Committee's  police  had  taken  entire  charge  of  the  town,  and  from  this 
time  until  the  withdrawal  of  the  Committee's  police  after  the  laying 
down  of  arms,  perfect  order  was  maintained— indeed,  the  town  has 
•never  before  or  since  been  so  efficiently  controlled  as  during  this 
period. 

Numbers  of  the  mines  stopped  work.  In  some  cases  the  miners 
remained  to  protect  the  companies'  property ;  in  other  cases  the  men 
came  in  and  volunteered  to  carry  arms  in  defence  of  the  town.  One 
of  the  most  serious  difficulties  with  which  the  Committee  had  to  deal 
was  that  of  supplying  arms.  There  were  under  3,000  rifles,  and  during 
the  few  days  when  the  excitement  was  at  its  highest  no  less  than 
20,000  men  came  forward  as  volunteers  and  demanded  to  be  armed. 
Not  unnaturally  a  great  deal  of  feeling  was  roused  among  these  naen 
against  the  Committee  on  account  of  their  inability  to  arm  them.  It 
was  believed  for  a  long  time  that  the  Committee  was  wholly  respon- 
sible for  the  incursion  by  Dr.  Jameson ;  that  they  had  precipitated 
matters  without  regard  to  the  safety  of  the  unarmed  population,  and 
had  actually  courted  civil  war  with  a  paltry  equipment  of  some  3,000 
rifles.  For  several  days  a  huge  crowd  surrounded  the  Committee's 
offices  clamouring  for  guns.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  the  feeling  would 
have  been  and  what  would  have  been  done  had  it  been  known  then 
that  there  were  less  than  3,000  rifles.  Not  more  than  a  dozen  men 
knew  the  actual  number,  and  they  decided  to  take  the  responsibility 

8 


114  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

of  withholding  this  information,  for  they  realized  that  panic  and  riot 
might  ensue  if  it  were  known,  whilst  the  only  hope  for  a  successful 
issue  now  lay  in  Johannesburg  presenting  a  bold,  confident,  and 
united  front. 

All  the  well-known  medical  men  in  the  town  came  forward  at  once, 
and  organized  and  equipped  an  ambulance  corps  which  within  the  day 
was  in  perfect  working  order. 

Perhaps  the  most  arduous  task  of  all  was  that  of  the  Commissariat 
Department,  who  were  called  upon  to  supply  at  a  few  hours'  notice 
the  men  bearing  arms  in  various  positions  outside  the  town  and  the 
various  dep6ts  within  the  town  which  were  organized  for  the  relief  of 
those  who  had  flocked  in  unprovided  for.  It  would  have  been  impos- 
sible, except  in  a  community  where  the  great  majority  of  men  had 
been  trained  by  the  nature  of  their  own  business  in  the  habit  of  organ- 
ization, to  cope  with  the  diflficulties  which  here  presented  themselves, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  pay  too  high  tribute  to  those  who  organized  the 
relief  of  the  women  and  children  from  the  surrounding  districts.  Not 
less  than  2,000  women  and  children  were  housed  and  fed  on  Tuesday 
night ;  offices  were  taken  possession  of  in  different  parts  of  the  town 
and  converted  into  barracks,  where  sleeping  accommodation  was  pro- 
vided under  excellent  sanitary  conditions ;  and  abundance  of  food,  as 
good  as  could  be  expected  at  an  ordinary  hotel,  was  supplied  to  these 
people  who  had  come  in  expecting  to  sleep  in  the  streets. 

In  order  to  carry  into  effect  the  scheme  of  relief  above  referred  to 
it  was  found  necessary  to  form  what  was  called  the  Relief  Committee. 
A  fund  was  opened  to  provide  this  Committee  with  the  necessary 
means,  and  members  of  the  Reform  Committee  subscribed  upwards  of 
^80,000  within  a  few  minutes  of  the  opening  of  the  lists. 

The  native  liquor  question  also  called  for  prompt  and  determined 
handling.  A  deputation  from  the  Committee  called  upon  the  Land- 
drost,  the  official  head  of  the  Licensing  Board,  and  requested  the 
co-operation  of  the  Government  in  dealing  with  this  matter,  and  an 
order  was  obtained  from  him  compulsorily  closing  the  canteens  until 
further  notice.  Armed  with  this,  the  officials  appointed  by  the  Com- 
mittee visited  the  various  liquor-houses  along  the  mines,  and  gave  due 
notice,  with  the  further  warning  that  if  any  breach  of  the  new  regula- 
tion took  place  it  would  be  followed  by  the  confiscation  of  the  entire 
stock  of  liquor.  The  measure  generally  had  a  very  salutary  effect, 
but  in  the  lowest  quarters  it  was  not  sufficient.  The  Committee  had 
realized  in  the  very  beginning  that  nothing  but  the  removal  of  the 
liquor  would  prevent  the  Kaffir  canteen-keepers  from  supplying  the 
natives  with  drink,  and  patrols  were  accordingly  sent  out  to  seize  the 
entire  stock  in  those  drinking-hells,  to  pay  compensation  at  value 
agreed  upon,  and  to  destroy  the  liquor.  The  step  was  no  doubt  a 
high-ban^  one,  and  before  it  was  taken  notice  was  given  to  the 


THE  REFORM  COMMITTEE  115 

Government  officials  of  the  intention.  The  Committee  were  warned 
that  this  action  could  not  be  authorized  by  Government,  as  it  was 
both  high-handed  and  illegal,  but  they  decided  to  take  the  responsi- 
bihty  upon  themselves.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  there  were 
fewer  cases  of  drunkenness  or  violence  reported  during  the  period  of 
trouble  than  during  any  other  fortnight  in  the  history  of  the  place. 

The  following  proclamation  had  been  issued  by  the  President  at 
a  very  late  hour  on  Monday  night  in  Pretoria,  and  was  received  in 
Johannesburg  on  Tuesday  morning : 

Pkoclamation  by  His  Honour  the  State  President  of  the 
South  African  Republic. 

Whereas  it  has  appeared  to  the  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic 
that  there  are  rumours  in  circulation  to  the  effect  that  earnest  endeavours  are 
being  made  to  endanger  the  public  safety  of  Johannesburg,  and  whereas  the 
Government  is  convinced  that,  in  case  such  rumours  may  contain  any  truth, 
such  endeavours  can  only  emanate  from  a  small  portion  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  Johannesburg  inhabitants  are  peaceful, 
and  are  prepared  to  support  the  Government  in  its  endeavours  to  maintain 
law  and  order, 

Now,  know  you  that  I,  Stephanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger,  State  President 
of  the  South  African  Republic,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Executive 
Council,  according  to  Article  913  of  its  minutes,  dated  the  30th  of  December, 
1895,  do  hereby  warn  those  evil-intentioned  persons  (as  I  do  hereby  urge  all 
such  persons  to  do)  to  remain  within  the  pale  of  the  law,  and  all  such  persons 
not  heeding  this  warning  shall  do  so  on  their  own  responsibility ;  and  I  do 
further  make  known  that  life  and  property  shall  be  protected  against  which 
attempts  may  be  made,  and  that  every  peaceful  inhabitant  of  Johannesburg, 
of  whatsoever  nationality  he  may  be,  is  called  upon  to  support  me  herein,  and 
to  assist  the  officials  charged  therewith  ;  and  furtlier  be  it  made  known  that 
the  Government  is  still  prepared  to  take  into  consideration  all  grievances  that 
may  be  laid  before  it  in  a  proper  manner,  and  to  submit  the  same  to  the 
people  of  the  land  without  delay  for  treatment. 

The  Government  in  Pretoria  were  no  doubt  perfectly  well  aware  of 
all  that  was  going  on  ;  the  Committee  could  not  possibly  observe  any 
secrecy,  nor  did  it  appear  desirable,  since  the  position  taken  up  and 
maintained  by  them  to  the  end  was  that  they  were  not  responsible  for 
Dr.  Jameson's  incursion,  and  were  simply  prepared  to  defend  the  town 
against  attack. 

During  the  four  or  five  days  preceding  this,  the  evidences  of  excite- 
ment in  Johannesburg  had  been  unmistakable,  and  on  Saturday  the 
28th,  the  day  before  Dr.  Jameson  started,  several  prominent  officials 
and  two  or  three  members  of  the  Volksraad  visited  Johannesburg  from 
Pretoria  and  openly  discussed  the  seriousness  of  the  position.  At  that 
time  they  were  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  Government  had  brought 
the  trouble  on  themselves  by  their  wrong-headed  and  corrupt  action. 
The  visitors  were  men  who,  although  officially  associated  with  the 
Government,  were  not  at  all  in  sympathy  with  the  policy  of  the 
Krugerite  party,   and    they   were   sincerely   anxious  for   a   peaceful 

8—2 


'^mm 


116  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 


settlement  and  desirous  of  liberal  reforms,  but  their  influence  with  the 
Government  was  nil.  Unfortunately  it  has  always  been  the  case  that 
intelligent  and  upright  men  associated  with  the  Pretoria  Government 
(and  there  are  some  as  bright  examples  as  can  be  found  in  any  country) 
never  have  had,  and  never  will  have,  any  weight  with  the  party  now 
dominating  the  State.  Their  services  are  not  used  as  they  might  be,  and 
their  counsels  are  not  regarded  as  they  should  be  in  times  when  they 
would  be  of  value  ;  in  fact,  it  would  seem  that  they  are  only  used  when 
it  appears  to  Mr.  Kruger  and  his  party  that  they  present  opportunities 
for  playing  upon  the  credulity  of  the  Uitlanders,  with  whose  progressive 
notions  they  are  known  to  be  in  sympathy.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say 
that  these  gentlemen  do  not  consciously  take  part  in  the  deception 
which  is  practised,  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  whenever  the 
Pretoria  clique  desire  to  trail  the  red  herring  they  do  it  by  the  employ- 
ment in  seeming  good  faith  of  one  or  other  of  those  gentlemen  whose 
character  and  sympathies  entitle  them  to  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  Uitlander. 

On  Tuesday  Mr.  Eugene  Marais,  the  editor  of  the  leading  Dutch 
paper  Land  en  Volk,  a  gentleman  who  has  worked  consistently  and 
honourably  both  for  his  people,  the  Transvaal  Dutch,  and  for  the  cause 
of  pure  and  enlightened  government,  visited  Johannesburg,  being  con- 
vinced that  there  was  serious  trouble  in  store  for  the  country  unless 
prompt  and  decisive  steps  were  taken  to  remedy  the  conditions  under 
which  the  Rand  community  were  suffering.  No  one  in  the  country 
has  fought  harder  against  the  abuses  which  exist  in  Pretoria  nor  has 
anyone  risked  more,  nor  yet  is  there  a  more  loyal  champion  of  the 
Boer ;  and  Mr.  Marais,  having  on  his  own  initiative  investigated  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  Johannesburg  and  reported  the  result  to  some 
of  the  leading  members  of  the  Government,  telegraphed  to  a  member 
of  the  Committee  on  Tuesday  morning  beseeching  that  body  to  make 
a  strenuous  effort  to  avert  bloodshed,  using  the  words,  '  For  God's 
sake,  let  us  meet  and  settle  things  like  menl'  and  further  stating  that 
he  and  Mr.  Malan,  son-in-law  of  General  Joubert,  were  bringing  over 
a  message  from  the  Government,  and  that  he  hoped  the  Committee 
would  meet  them  in  a  reasonable  spirit. 

A  full  meeting  of  the  Committee  was  at  once  called  to  receive  the' 
two  delegates.  The  meeting  took  place  at  9  p.m.  and  lasted  until 
12  p.m.  on  Tuesday  night.  Mr.  Marais's  evidence  during  the  course 
of  the  trial  detailed  the  events  which  led  up  to  this  meeting.  He 
stated  that  in  consequence  of  what  he  had  observed  in  Johannesburof 
on  Monday  and  Tuesday  he  returned  to  Pretoria,  convinced  that  imless 
something  was  done  by  Government  to  relieve  the  position  there  would 
most  inevitably  be  a  civil  war.  He  reported  the  condition  of  things  to 
General  Joubert,  who  deemed  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  have  the 
matter  brought  before  the  Executive.    Messrs.  Marais  and  Malan  were 


THE  REFORM  COMMITTEE  117 

thereupon  received  by  the  Executive  and  authorized  to  meet  the  Eeform 
Committee  on  behalf  of  the  Government.  With  reference  to  the  now 
famous  '  olive  branch '  phrase,  Mr.  Marais  states  that  the  expression 
was  first  used  by  a  member  of  the  Committee  in  Johannesburg  on 
Tuesday  morning.  The  condition  of  things  was  being  discussed,  and 
this  member  commented  severely  upon  the  action  of  the  Government. 
Mr.  Marais  urged  that  things  were  not  so  bad  as  to  justify  a  determined 
attempt  to  provoke  civil  war,  and  stated  that  he  beUeved  that  the 
excitement  prevailing  would  convince  the  Government  that  they  had 
now  gone  too  far,  and  that  when  they  realized  the  seriousness  of  the 
position  they  would  be  willing  to  make  proper  concessions,  and  he 
said,  in  conclusion,  that  the  people  of  Johannesburg,  if  they  were  as 
good  as  their  professions  and  desired  reform  and  not  revolution,  would 
even  at  the  eleventh  hour  be  willing  to  meet  the  Government.  The 
member  of  the  Reform  Committee  replied  that  this  was  undoubtedly 
the  attitude  of  the  Johannesburg  people,  but  that  it  was  absolutely 
useless  to  keep  on  patiently  waiting  for  the  fulfilment  of  promises 
which  were  only  made  to  be  broken ;  that  if  Johannesburg  had  any 
evidence  that  the  Government  meant  honestly  by  them,  they  would  of 
course  treat  and  endeavour  to  avert  bloodshed;  that  the  Uitlandera 
had  so  far  always  offered  the  olive  branch  and  sought  to  establish 
harmony.  That,  however,  was  all  over,  and  let  the  Government  now 
take  the  first  steps  if  they  were  in  earnest. 

Mr.  Marais  reported  the  whole  of  this  conversation  to  the  Executive 
Council,  and,  upon  his  making  use  of  the  expression  •  olive  branch,' 
the  President  exclaimed  excitedly,  '  What  are  they  talking  about  ? 
What  is  an  olive  branch?'  When  this  was  explained  to  him,  ho 
nodded  and  said,  '  Yes,  that  is  what  we  will  do,'  and  Mr.  Wolmarans, 
another  member  of  the  Executive,  exclaimed,  *  Go  back  to  the  Johan- 
nesburg people  and  tell  them  that  we  have  already  offered  the  olive 
branch  by  voluntarily  withdrawing  our  police  from  the  town  in  order 
to  avoid  conflict,  thus  leaving  them  in  entire  possession.  It  is  for 
them  to  say  whether  they  will  accept  it.' 

The  meeting  at  which  Messrs.  Marais  and  Malan  were  commissioned 
to  negotiate  with  the  Johannesburg  people  was,  with  the  exception  of 
General  Smit  (then  dying  and  since  dead),  attended  by  every  member 
of  the  Executive  Council,  and  there  is  no  truth  in  the  suggestion  made 
on  behalf  of  the  Government  that  it  was  an  informal  meeting  of  a  few 
men  who  were  not  acting  on  behalf  of  the  State,  nor  is  there  any 
justification  for  the  statement  made  by  Judge  Ameshof  in  the  witness- 
box  that  Messrs.  Marais  and  Malan  were  not  officially  authorized  to 
negotiate  with  the  Reform  Committee. 

Messrs.  Marais  and  Malan  met  the  Reform  Committee  in  the  general 
committee-room,  and  both  gentlemen  addressed  the  meeting  several 
times,  going  fully  into  the  grievances  complained  of  by  the  Uitlanders, 


118  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

and  explaining  very  fully  the  position  of  the  Government  and  their 
attitude  during  the  meeting  of  the  Executive  Council  which  they  had 
been  called  upon  to  attend.  They  stated  that  they  had  been  sent  by  a 
full  meeting  of  the  Executive  to  ask  the  Eeform  Committee  to  send  a 
deputation  to  Pretoria  in  order  to  meet  a  Commission  to  be  appointed 
by  Government  with  a  view  to  effecting  a  peaceful  settlement  and  the 
redress  of  grievances ;  that  the  Commission  would  consist  of  Chief 
Justice  Kotze,  Judge  Ameshof,  and  another,  probably  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Council ;  that  the  Government  were  willing  to  consider  and 
redress  the  grievances,  and  were,  above  all  things,  anxious  to  avoid 
conflict  with  their  own  subjects. 

Then  came  the  much-quoted  expression  :  '  We  come,  in  fact,  to  offer 
you  the  olive-branch ;  it  is  for  you  to  say  if  you  wiU  take  it ;  if  you  are 
sincere  in  your  professions,  you  will.'  A  great  deal  of  discussion  took 
place,  many  members  of  the  Committee  maintaining  that,  although 
they  placed  full  confidence  in  the  gentlemen  who  had  been  sent  by 
Government,  they  were  nevertheless  convinced  that  there  was  treachery 
at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  they  stated  in  plain  language  what  has  become 
more  or  less  an  article  of  faith  with  the  Uitlander :  '  Whenever  the 
Government  are  earnestly  intent  upon  deceiving  us  they  select  emis- 
saries in  whose  character  and  good  faith  we  have  complete  trust,  and 
by  deceiving  them  insure  that  we  shall  be  misled.'  Both  gentlemen 
repeatedly  assured  the  meeting  that  the  Government  were  most  anxious 
to  remove  the  causes  of  discontent,  and  stated  moreover  that  Johannes- 
burg would  get  practically  all  that  was  asked  for  in  the  Manifesto.  When 
asked  what  was  meant  by  *  practically  all,'  they  explained  that  there 
would  be  some  minor  points,  of  course,  on  which  Johannesburg  would 
have  to  give  way  in  order  to  meet  the  Government,  as  their  position 
was  also  a  very  difi&cult  one,  and  there  were  in  particular  two  matters 
on  which  there  would  be  some  difficulty,  but  by  no  means  insurmount- 
able. When  asked  if  the  two  matters  were  the  removal  of  religious 
disabilities  and  the  franchise,  one  of  the  two  gentlemen  replied  that 
he  had  been  told  that  there  would  be  some  difficulty  on  these  two 
points,  but  that  they  were  quite  open  to  discussion  as  to  the  details, 
and  he  was  convinced  that  there  would  surely  be  a  means  of  coming 
to  an  understanding  by  compromise  even  on  these  two.  Messrs.  Marais 
and  Malan  also  informed  the  meeting  that  the  High  Commissioner  had 
issued  a  proclamation  calling  upon  Dr.  Jameson  to  desist  from  the 
invasion  and  to  return  to  British  territory  at  once  ;  that  the  proclama- 
tion had  been  duly  forwarded  to  him  from  several  points ;  and  that 
there  was  no  doubt  that  he  would  turn  back.  Messrs.  Marais  and 
Malan  both  stated  that  they  were  themselves  proceeding  with  the 
commando  against  Dr.  Jameson,  should  he  fail  to  obey  the  High  Com- 
missioner's mandate,  and  stated  also  that  although  they  were  making 
every  effort  that  was  humanly  possible  to  avert  conflict,  it  must  be 


l^HE  REFORM  COMMITTEE  llD 

clearly  understood  that  if  from  the  unreasonable  action  of  Johannesburg 
fighting  took  place  between  the  Government  forces  and  a  revolutionary 
force  from  Johannesburg,  they  as  in  duty  bound  would  fight  for  their 
Government,  and  that  in  the  Government  ranks  would  be  found  those 
men  who  had  been  the  most  arduous  workers  in  the  cause  of  reform. 
They  were  assured  that  there  was  no  such  feeling  as  desire  for  revenge 
actuating  the  people  who  had  taken  up  arms,  that  it  was  simply  a 
desire  for  fair  treatment  and  decent  government,  that  the  present 
demand  was  what  had  been  already  detailed  in  the  Manifesto,  and  that 
the  Committee  stood  by  that  document,  but  would  nevertheless  accept 
as  sufficient  for  the  time  being  any  reasonable  proportion  of  the  redress 
demanded. 

In  spite  of  differences  as  to  the  motives  of  the  Government  in  holding 
out  the  olive-branch,  it  was  decided  unanimously  that  the  request  as 
conveyed  by  Messrs.  Marais  and  Malan  should  be  complied  with,  and 
that  a  deputation  should  be  sent  over  early  on  the  following  morning 
to  meet  the  Government  Commission,  tinder  the  circumstances,  it 
was  quite  useless  to  discuss  whether  the  Government  designed  these 
negotiations  merely  as  a  ruse  in  order  to  gain  time,  or  whether  they 
were  actually  dealing  with  the  Committee  in  good  faith  and  intending 
to  effect  the  redress  promised.  At  that  time  Johannesburg  itself  had 
not  been  protected  by  earthworks,  and  the  unpacking  of  the  Maxims 
and  rifles  had  only  just  been  completed.  Throughout  Tuesday  night 
and  Wednesday  earthworks  were  being  thrown  up,  and  every  effort  was 
being  directed  towards  placing  the  town  in  a  state  of  defence. 


CHAPTEK  V 

THE    committee's    DILEMMA 

With  the  best  will  in  the  world  it  would  have  been  quite  impossible  to 
render  any  assistance  to  Dr.  Jameson's  forces,  but  apart  from  this  there 
never  was  the  slightest  doubt  of  his  ability  to  get  into  Johannesburg 
without  assistance,  should  he  decide  to  attempt  it.  In  conversation 
with  the  leaders  of  the  movement  he  had  always  scouted  the  idea  of 
requiring  assistance  from  Johannesburg,  nor  would  anyone  have  be- 
lieved that  with  a  well-equipped  and  perfectly  trained  force  of  800  men 
(as  it  was  believed  he  had)  it  was  possible  for  the  Boers  to  get  together 
a  force  sufficiently  strong  to  stop  him  in  his  dash  on  Johannesburg. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Charles  Leonard,  who  had  been  recognised  as 
the  leader  of  the  movement,  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips  was  elected  Chairman 
of  the  Reform  Committee,  and  he  and  Messrs.  J.  G.  Auret,  A.  BaJley, 
and  M.  Langermann  were  chosen  as  the  Committee's  deputation  to 
proceed  to  Pretoria  and  meet  the  Commission  appointed  by  the  Govern- 
ment.    They  left  at  an  early  hour  on  Wednesday  morning,  and  were 


120  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

given  practically  a  free  hand  to  act  on  behalf  of  the  Eeform  Committee. 
The  position  having  been  so  thoroughly  discussed  there  was  no  possi- 
bility of  misunderstanding  ;  there  was  no  division  in  the  Committee  as 
to  the  attitude  to  be  taken  up.  The  deputation  were  to  negotiate  with 
the  Government  for  a  peaceful  settlement  on  the  basis  of  the  Manifesto, 
accepting  what  they  might  consider  to  be  a  reasonable  instalment  of 
the  reforms  demanded.  They  were  to  deal  with  the  Government  in  a 
conciliatory  spirit,  and  to  avoid  all  provocation  to  civil  strife,  but  at  the 
same  time  to  msist  upon  the  recognition  of  rights  and  the  redress  of 
the  grievances,  to  avow  the  association  with  Dr.  Jameson's  forces  so 
far  as  it  had  existed,  and  to  include  him  in  any  settlement  that  might 
be  made.  It  was  impossible  to  lay  down  any  definite  lines  on  which 
to  negotiate  on  behalf  of  Dr.  Jameson,  as  the  Eeform  Committee  were 
still  in  complete  ignorance  of  his  reasons  for  starting  ;  but  it  was  con- 
sidered fairer  and  more  reasonable  to  assume  that  he  had  started  in 
good  faith,  and  that  the  two  messengers  who  had  been  sent  to  stop  him 
had  not  reached  him,  and  to  act  accordingly.  However  awkward  a 
predicament  he  had  placed  the  Johannesburg  people  in,  they  accepted 
a  certain  moral  responsibility  for  him  and  for  his  actions,  and  decided 
to  make  his  safety  the  first  consideration. 

Late  on  Tuesday  night  the  Collector  of  Customs  at  Johannesburg 
informed  members  of  the  Keform  Committee  that  he  had  received  a 
telegraphic  despatch  from  the  Pretoria  head  ofi&ce  notifying  the  sus- 
pension of  all  duties  on  various  articles  of  food.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  this  relief  was  prayed  for  by  the  representative  bodies  of 
mining  and  commerce  on  the  Rand  several  weeks  before  the  outbreak, 
and  that  the  Government  had  replied  that  they  were  unable  during 
the  recess  to  deal  with  the  matter,  as  the  legislative  power  and  the 
power  of  levying  and  remitting  duties  had  been  taken  from  the 
Executive  by  the  Volksraad  some  time  previously.  It  will  also  be 
remembered  that  the  Government  acted  on  this  hint  as  to  the  neces- 
sities of  the  community  in  a  wholly  unexpected  way  by  granting  a 
monopoly  for  the  free  importation  of  grain  to  a  favoured  individual  of 
their  party  in  Pretoria.  It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  the  notifica- 
tion conveyed  by  the  Collector  of  Customs  was  received  with  considerable 
derision,  and  the  opinion  was  expressed  that  it  would  have  redounded 
more  to  the  credit  of  the  Government's  honesty  and  intelligence  had 
they  remitted  the  duties  when  first  petitioned,  instead  of  doing  so  at 
the  last  moment  hastily  and  ungracefully,  so  to  speak,  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  whilst  the  deputation  were  engaged  in 
negotiations  with  the  Government  Commission,  a  telegram  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Reform  Committee  in  Johannesburg  from  Sir  Jacobus 
de  Wet,  the  British  agent,  conveying  the  following  proclamation  of  the 
High  Commissioner : 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  121 

Whereas  it  has  come  to  my  knowledge  that  certain  British  subjects,  said  to 
be  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Jameson,  have  violated  the  territory  of  the 
South  African  Republic,  and  have  cut  telegraph-wires,  and  done  various  other 
illegal  acts ;  and  whereas  the  South  African  Republic  is  a  friendly  State,  in 
amity  with  Her  Majesty's  Government;  and  whereas  it  is  my  desire  to  respect 
the  independence  of  the  said  State  ; 

Now,  therefore,  I  hereby  command  the  said  Dr.  Jameson  and  all  persons 
accompanying  him  to  immediately  retire  from  the  territory  of  the  South 
African  Republic,  on  pain  of  the  penalties  attached  to  their  illegal  pro- 
ceedings ;  and  I  do  further  hereby  call  upon  all  British  subjects  in  the  South 
African  Republic  to  abstain  from  giving  the  said  Dr.  Jameson  any  countenance 
or  assistance  in  his  armed  violation  of  the  territory  of  a  friendly  State. 

A  reply  was  immediately  sent  to  the  British  Agent,  stating  that  the 
Eeform  Committee  were  not  aware  of  the  reasons  which  prompted 
Dr.  Jameson  to  start,  but  that  as  he  was  coming  to  their  assistance, 
presumably  in  good  faith,  they  felt  morally  bound  to  provide  for  him, 
and  they  therefore  urged  the  British  Agent  most  strongly  to  spare  no 
effort  in  forwarding  the  proclamation  to  Dr.  Jameson,  so  that  he  might 
be  aware  of  the  action  taken  by  the  Imperial  Government,  and  might 
turn  back  before  any  conflict  should  take  place  between  his  and  the 
Boer  forces.  The  Committee  offered  to  forward  the  despatch  them- 
selves if  facilities  of  passport  were  given. 

A  full  meeting  of  the  Committee  was  immediately  convened  in  order 
to  consider  this  new  complication  of  the  case,  and  the  following 
telegram  was  approved  and  sent  at  11.15  a.m.,  addressed  to  the  Depu- 
tation of  the  Eeform  Committee,  care  of  Her  Majesty's  Agent, 
Pretoria : 

Meeting  has  been  held  since  you  started  to  consider  telegram  from  British 
Agent,  and  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  authorize  you  to  make  following 
offer  to  Government.  Begins :  '  In  order  to  avert  bloodshed  on  gi-ounds  of 
Dr.  Jameson's  action,  if  Government  will  allow  Dr.  Jameson  to  come  in 
unmolested,  the  Committee  will  guarantee  with  their  persons,  if  necessary, 
that  he  shall  leave  again  peacefully  within  as  little  delay  as  possible.'^ 

The  Committee  well  realized  the  fatal  results  of  Dr.  Jameson's 
invasion  under  the  circumstances,  and  much  as  their  position  had 
been  injured  and  complicated  by  his  action,  it  was  felt  that  it  would 
still  be  better  to  get  rid  of  the  foreign  element  which  he  represented 
and  to  fight  the  battle  out  under  such  conditions  as  might  arise  without 
any  assistance  than  to  let  things  go  from  bad  to  worse  through  further 
action  on  Dr.  Jameson's  part. 

No  reply  had  been  received  from  the  High  Commissioner  to  the 
telegrams  urging  him  to  come  up  in  person.     Mr.  Cecil  Ehodes  had 

'  The  telegram  originally  read  '  within  twenty-four  hours,'  but  it  was  con- 
sidered impossible  to  guarantee  the  time  exactly,  and  the  alteration  as  above 
given  was  made,  the  word  '  within  '  being  inadvertently  left  standing  instead 
of  'with.' 


122  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

telegraphed  that  he  was  urgently  pressing  the  High  Commissioner  to 
come,  but  that  he  had  received  no  assurances  as  yet  from  him.  During 
Wednesday  Messrs.  Leonard  and  Hamilton  telegraphed  that  the  former 
had  seen  the  High  Commissioner,  who  had  declined  to  move  unless 
invited  by  the  other  side  ;  they  were  using  every  effort  to  induce  him 
to  move,  but  no  reliance  could  be  placed  upon  him.  They  further 
advised  that  in  their  strong  opinion  a  reasonable  compromise  should  be 
effected,  and  that  it  was  most  vital  to  avoid  offence.  Mr.  ¥.  H.  Hamil- 
ton, who  was  one  of  the  first  associated  with  the  movement,  finding 
then  that  nothing  more  could  be  done,  and  feeling  that  his  proper 
place  was  with  his  comrades,  refused  to  remain  longer  and  returned  to 
Johannesburg,  arriving  there  after  Dr.  Jameson's  surrender. 

Two  and  a  half  days  had  now  elapsed  since  Dr.  Jameson  started, 
and  the  Committee  were  still  without  word  or  sign  from  him  as  to  his 
having  started  or  the  reason  which  prompted  him  to  do  so.  None 
knew  better  than  Dr.  Jameson  himself  the  difficulties  and  magnitude 
of  the  task  which  he  had  set  the  Eeform  Committee  when  he  struck 
his  camp  at  Pitsani  and  marched  into  the  Transvaal.  None  knew 
better  than  he  that  with  the  best  luck  and  all  the  wiU  and  energy  in 
the  world  it  would  hardly  be  possible  to  do  as  much  as  place  the  town 
in  a  position  of  defence.  Every  hour  some  explanation  or  some  mes- 
sage w-as  expected  from  him,  something  to  throw  a  little  light  on  his 
action ;  but  nothing  ever  came,  and  the  Committee  were  left  to  act  in 
the  dark  as  their  judgment  or  good  fortune  might  lead  them. 

The  deputation  which  had  been  sent  to  Pretoria  met  the  Govern- 
ment Commission  at  noon  on  Wednesday.  The  Commission  consisted 
of  Chief-Justice  Kotze  (Chairman),  Judge  Ameshof,  and  Executive 
Member  Kock.  There  was  a  Government  shorthand  clerk  present. 
Before  the  business  of  the  meeting  was  gone  into,  at  the  request  of 
the  Chief  Justice,  the  deputation  consented  to  minutes  of  the  interview 
being  taken,  remarking  that  as  they  were  dealing  with  the  Govern- 
ment in  good  faith  they  had  nothing  to  conceal.  It  may  be  well  to 
mention  that  at  the  meeting  of  Messrs.  Malan  and  Marais  with  the 
Eeform  Committee  the  question  was  raised  as  to  the  attitude  of  the 
Government  towards  the  deputation  which  it  was  suggested  should 
be  sent  to  Pretoria.  Someone  remarked  that  the  Government  were 
quite  capable  of  inducing  the  deputation  to  go  to  Pretoria,  having  them 
arrested  as  soon  as  they  got  there,  and  holding  them  as  hostages. 
Messrs.  Marais  and  Malan  both  scouted  the  idea,  and  stated  positively 
that  the  Executive  Council  had  formally  acknowledged  to  them  that 
they  were  negotiating  with  the  Eeform  Committee  in  good  faith,  and 
that  negotiations  would,  of  course,  be  carried  on  in  a  decent  manner 
as  between  two  civilized  parties  in  arms.  These  little  incidents  have 
a  peculiar  interest  now  in  view  of  the  treachery  practised  by  the 
Government  by  means  of  the  negotiations  with  the  deputation. 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  123 

Mr.  Lionel  Phillips,  as  spokesman,  detailed  at  length  the  position  of 
affairs  in  Johannesburg,  citing  the  grievances  and  disabilities  under 
which  the  Uitlander  population  existed.  He  pointed  out  that  year 
after  year  the  XJitlanders  had  been  begging  and  petitioning  for  redress 
of  these  grievances,  for  some  amelioration  of  their  condition,  for  fair 
and  uniform  treatment  of  all  the  white  subjects  of  the  State,  and  for 
some  representation  in  the  Legislature  of  the  country,  as  they  were 
entitled  by  their  numbers  and  their  work  and  their  property  to  have ; 
yet  not  only  had  a  deaf  ear  been  turned  to  all  their  petitions,  but  the 
conditions  were  actually  aggravated  year  by  year,  and,  instead  of 
obtaining  relief,  there  was  a  marked  increase  in  the  burdens  and  dis- 
abilities imposed.  He  informed  the  Commission  that  the  Manifesto 
fairly  represented  the  views  of  the  Eeform  Committee  and  the  people 
of  Johannesburg ;  that,  whilst  they  were  determined  to  have  their 
rights,  they  recognised  that  it  might  not  be  possible  to  obtain  complete 
redress  at  once,  and  they  were  prepared  to  accept  what  they  might 
consider  a  reasonable  instalment  of  redress.  He  stated  that  Dr.  Jame- 
son had  remained  on  the  borders  of  the  Transvaal  with  an  armed  force 
by  a  written  arrangement  with  certain  of  the  leaders,  and  that  he  was 
there  to  render  active  assistance  should  the  community  be  driven  to 
extremes  and  require  his  assistance  ;  but  as  to  his  present  action  the 
Committee  could  throw  no  further  light  upon  it,  as  they  were  in 
ignorance  of  his  reason  for  starting ;  they  could  only  assume  that  he 
had  done  so  in  good  faith,  probably  misled  by  rumours  of  trouble  in 
Johannesburg  which  he  thought  he  had  sufficient  reason  to  believe. 
He  added  that  so  far  from  being  invited  by  the  Committee,  messengers 
had  actually  been  sent  to  prevent  him  from  moving,  but  that  it  was 
not  known  to  the  Committee  if  these  messengers  had  reached  him,  or 
if  the  telegrams  which  had  been  sent  with  a  like  purpose  had  ever 
been  delivered  to  him,  and  that  consequently  the  Committee  preferred 
to  believe  that  he  had  come  in  in  good  faith  and  thinking  the  com- 
munity to  be  in  dire  need,  and  for  this  reason  the  people  of  Johannes- 
burg were  resolved  to  stand  by  him. 

In  the  course  of  the  discussion  Executive  Member  Kock  remarked  : 
'  If  you  have  erected  fortifications  and  have  taken  up  arms,  you  are 
nothing  but  rebels.'  Mr.  Phillips  replied :  '  You  can  call  us  rebels  if 
you  like.  All  we  want  is  justice,  decent  treatment,  and  honest 
government ;  that  is  what  we  have  come  to  ask  of  you.'  Mr.  Kock 
thereupon  remarked  that  the  deputation  spoke  as  though  they  repre- 
sented Johannesburg,  whereas,  for  all  the  Government  knew,  the 
Reform  Committee  might  be  but  a  few  individuals  of  no  influence ; 
and  he  asked  if  they  could  be  informed  as  to  who  constituted  that 
body.  The  deputation  gave  certain  names  from  memory,  and  offered 
to  telegraph  for  a  full  list.  The  reply  came  in  time  to  be  handed  to 
the  Government,  and  it  constituted  the  sole  piece  of  evidence  ever 


124  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

obtained  as  to  who  were  members  of  the  Reform  Committee.  After 
hearing  the  statement  of  Mr.  Phillips,  the  Chief  Justice  informed  the 
deputation  that  the  Commission  were  not  empowered  to  arrange  terms, 
but  were  merely  authorized  to  hear  what  the  deputation  had  to  say,  to 
ascertain  then*  grievances  and  the  proposed  remedies,  and  to  report 
this  discussion  to  the  Government.  Takuig  up  certain  points  referred 
to  by  Mr.  Phillips,  the  Chief  Justice  asked  whether  the  Johannesburg 
people  would  consent  to  lay  down  their  arms  if  the  Government 
granted  practically  all  the  reforms  that  were  asked.  Mr.  Phillips 
replied  in  the  affirmative,  adding  that  after  enfranchisement  the  com- 
munity would  naturally  be  privileged  to  take  up  arms  again  as  burghers 
of  the  State.  The  Chief  Justice  asked  on  what  lines  it  was  proposed 
that  the  franchise  should  be  granted.  The  deputation  replied  that  the 
community  would  be  quite  content  if  the  Government  would  accept 
the  principle,  leaving  the  settlement  of  details  to  a  Commission  of  three 
persons — one  to  be  appointed  by  each  party,  and  the  third  to  be 
mutually  agreed  upon. 

The  meeting  was  adjourned  at  noon  until  5  p.m.,  and  in  the  mean- 
time the  deputation  telegraphed  to  the  Reform  Committee  in  Johannes- 
burg the  substance  of  what  had  taken  place,  stating  among  other 
things  that  they  had  explained  the  arrangements  with  Dr.  Jameson. 
That  such  a  message  should  be  sent  through  the  Government  telegraph- 
office  at  a  time  when  every  telegram  was  read  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  information  as  to  what  was  on  foot  is  further  proof  (if  proof 
be  needed)  that  the  '  revelations '  as  to  the  connection  between 
Dr.  Jameson  and  the  Reformers,  which  were  brought  out  with 
theatrical  effect  later  on,  were  not  by  any  means  a  startling  surprise 
to  the  Government,  and  were,  in  fact,  well  known  to  them  in  all 
essential  details  before  the  first  encounter  between  the  Boers  and 
Dr.  Jameson  had  taken  place.  The  significance  of  this  fact  in  its 
bearing  upon  Dr.  Jameson's  surrender  and  the  after-treatment  of  the 
Reform  prisoners  should  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

The  adjourned  meeting  between  the  Government  Commission  and 
the  Reform  Committee  deputation  took  place  at  5  p.m.,  when  the 
Chief  Justice  intimated  to  the  deputation  that  they  had  reported  to 
a  full  meeting  of  the  Executive  Council  all  that  had  taken  place  at  the 
morning  meeting,  and  that  the  Executive  had  authorized  them  to  hand 
to  the  deputation  in  answer  a  resolution,  the  substance  of  which  is 
given  hereunder  : 

The  High  Commissioner  has  offered  his  services  with  a  view  to  a  peaceful 
settlement.  The  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic  have  accepted 
his  offer.  Pending  his  arrival,  no  hostile  step  will  be  taken  against  Johannes- 
burg provided  Johannesburg  takes  no  hostile  step  against  the  Government. 
In  terms  of  a  certain  proclamation  recently  issued  by  the  State  President  the 
giievances  will  be  earnestly  considered. 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  125 

It  is  impossible  to  give  the  exact  wording  of  the  minute  because  the 
original  document  was  inadvertently  destroyed,  and  all  applications  to 
Government  for  a  copy  were  met  at  first  by  evasions  and  finally  by 
point-blank  refusal.  The  document  was  required  as  evidence  in  the 
trial  of  the  Eeform  prisoners,  and  every  efi'ort  was  made  to  secure  an 
exact  copy.  As  a  last  resource  the  above  version,  as  sworn  to  by 
a  number  of  men  who  had  seen  the  original  document,  was  put  in. 
The  Government  were  informed  that  if  a  true  copy  of  the  original 
resolution  as  recorded  in  the  Minute  Book  of  the  Executive  Council 
were  not  supplied  for  the  purposes  of  evidence  in  the  trial  the  prisoners 
would  hand  in  the  version  given  above.  No  reply  was  received  to 
this,  and  the  State  Attorney  acting  on  behalf  of  the  Government  ad- 
mitted the  version  here  given  in  the  statement  put  in  by  the  prisoners. 
It  is  clear  therefore  that  if  this  version  errs  in  any  respect  it  cannot,  at 
all  events,  be  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Government,  or  they  would 
assuredly  have  objected  to  it  and  have  produced  the  resolution  itself. 

On  receipt  of  the  above  resolution  the  deputation  inquired  whether 
this  offer  of  the  Government's  was  intended  to  include  Dr.  Jameson. 
The  Chief  Justice  replied  that  the  Government  declined  to  treat  about 
him  as  he  was  a  foreign  invader  and  would  have  to  be  turned  out  of 
the  country.  The  deputation  thereupon  handed  in  the  telegram  from 
the  Eeform  Committee,  already  quoted,  offering  their  persons  as 
security,  and  pointed  out  that  this  was  the  most  earnest  and  sub- 
stantial guarantee  that  it  was  possible  to  offer  that  the  Committee  had 
not  invited  Dr.  Jameson  and  had  no  desire  to  destroy  the  independence 
of  the  State.  The  Commission  in  reply  stated  that  the  proclamation 
of  the  High  Commissioner  was  being  forwarded  to  Dr.  Jameson  from 
various  quarters,  and  that  he  would  inevitably  be  stopped.  In  reply 
to  the  statement  by  the  deputation  that  they  were  not  empowered  to 
accept  terms  which  did  not  expHcitly  include  Dr.  Jameson,  but  would 
report  to  headquarters  and  reply  later  on,  the  Chief  Justice  stated  that 
the  Government  required  no  answer  to  the  resolution  handed  to  them. 
This  was  in  fact  their  answer,  and  if  the  people  of  Johannesburg 
observed  the  conditions  mentioned  therein  there  would  be  no  further 
trouble,  but  if  they  disregarded  them  they  would  be  held  responsible 
for  whatever  followed.  The  deputation  returned  to  Johannesburg  fully 
convinced  that  the  grievances  would  be  redressed  and  a  peaceful  settle- 
ment arrived  at  through  the  mediation  of  the  High  Commissioner,  and 
that  Dr.  Jameson  would  inevitably  obey  the  latter's  proclamation  and 
leave  the  country  peacefully  on  ascertaining  that  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  his  intervention  on  behalf  of  the  Uitlanders. 

Not  only  did  the  Government  supply  the  deputation  with  the 
minute  in  writing  already  quoted,  but  they  also  instructed  the  local 
officers  of  Johannesburg  to  make  public  tlieir  decision  to  avail  them- 
selves of  Sir  Hercules  Eobinson's  services.     It  will  be  observed  that 


126  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

the  notification  published  in  Johannesburg  is  not  so  full  as  the 
Executive  minute  handed  to  the  deputation  in  Pretoria,  but  the  spirit 
in  which  it  was  given  and  accepted  is  shown  by  the  following  notice 
issued  by  the  Eeform  Committee  embodying  the  official  statement : 

REFORM  COMMITTEE. 

Notice. 

The  Government  nave  handed  us  a  written  reply  this  afternoon  (January  1), 
stating  they  brave  agreed  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  High  Commissioner  to  go 
to  Pretoria  to  assist  the  Government  in  preventing  bloodshed,  and  then  the 
representations  of  the  Committee  will  be  taken  into  serious  consideration. 
The  communication  referred  to  is  as  follows  : 

'  The  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic  have  accepted  the  offer  of 
the  High  Commissioner  to  come  to  Pretoria.' 

(Signed)    J.  L,  van  der  Merwe,  Mining  Gommissioner. 
J.  F.  DE  Beer,  Judicial  Commissioner. 
Carl  Jeppe,  Member  of  the  First  VolJcsraad, 

Johannesburg. 
A.  H.  Blecksley,  Commandant  Volunteers. 
Desirous  as  the  Committee  has  always  been  to  obtain  its  objects  without 
the  shedding  of  blood  and  incurring  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  the  opportunity 
of  achieving  its  aims  by  peaceful  means  is  welcome. 

The  Reform  Committee  desires  that  the  public  will  aid  them  with  the 
loyalty  and  enthusiasm  which  they  have  shown  so  far  in  the  maintenance  of 
its  organization,  and  will  stand  firm  in  the  cause  of  law  and  order  and  the 
establishment  of  their  rights. 

By  order  of  the  Committee. 

This  notice  was  pubUshed  in  the  local  press,  and  also  distributed  as 
a  leaflet  in  Johannesburg. 

More  than  this  I  At  one  o'clock  on  Wednesday  President  Kruger 
had  sent  for  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  and  requested  him  to  transmit  to  the 
Reform  Committee  the  following  message  :  *  I  desire  again  to  invite 
your  serious  attention  to  the  fact  that  negotiations  are  going  on 
between  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  His  Honour  the  President.  I  am 
convinced  the  Government  is  prepared  to  meet  any  committee  or 
deputation  at  any  time  to  discuss  matters.  In  view  of  this  and  of 
negotiations  with  Mr.  Chamberlain  I  advise  you  to  follow  a  con- 
stitutional course.'  That  telegram  was  framed  at  President  Kruger's 
request  and  approved  by  him  before  being  transmitted. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  the  impolicy,  and  even  the  bad 
faith,  of  the  Johannesburg  people  in  concluding  an  armistice  which 
did  not  include  Dr.  Jameson.  From  the  above  account  it  is  clear  in 
the  first  place  that  every  effort  was  made  to  provide  for  his  safety,  and 
in  the  next  place  that  no  armistice  was  concluded.  Certain  terms  were 
offered  by  the  Government  which  it  was  open  to  the  Committee  to 
either  accept  or  reject  or  ignore,  as  they  might  decide  later  ,on.     In 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  127 

plain  English,  the  Committee  were  as  free  after  the  negotiations  as 
they  had  been  before.  They  gave  no  undertaking  to  abstain  from 
hostile  action;  they  simply  received  the  offer  of  the  Government. 
Whether  they  complied  with  those  conditions  as  a  matter  of  cold- 
blooded selfish  policy,  whether  they  simply  selected  an  easy  way  out 
of  a  difficult  position,  or  whether  they  complied  with  the  conditions 
solely  because  they  were  not  in  a  position  to  do  anything  else,  it  is 
open  to  every  man  to  decide  for  himself ;  but  it  does  not  seem  fair,  in 
face  of  the  fact  that  they  were  not  able  to  do  anything  else,  to  impute 
the  worst  motives  of  aU  for  the  course  which  they  eventually  took. 

On  the  return  of  the  deputation  to  Johannesburg  a  report  of  what 
had  taken  place  was  given  to  a  full  meeting  of  the  Reform  Committee. 
Divers  opinions  were  expressed  as  to  what  was  the  right  course  to  take, 
but  eventually  all  were  agreed  that,  as  the  first  duty  of  the  Committee 
was  undoubtedly  to  protect  the  town  and  the  unarmed  section  of  the 
community,  as  they  could  not  afford  to  send  a  single  man  out  of  the 
place,  as  there  was  no  reasor  to  suppose  that  Dr.  Jameson  required  or 
would  welcome  any  assistance,  as  it  seemed  certain  that  he  V7ould  be 
stopped  by  the  High  Commissioner's  proclamation  and  turned  back,  it 
would  be  nothing  short  of  criminal  madness  to  adopt  any  aggressive 
measures  at  that  stage. 

It  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  many  of  the  hostile  critics  of 
the  Reform  Committee  to  consider  what  might  have  happened  when 
they  are  judging  what  actually  took  place.  Dr.  Jameson  had  invaded 
the  country  with  less  than  500  men.  It  must  be  clear  from  this  that 
it  was  not  his  intention  to  conquer  the  Transvaal.  It  must  have  been 
and  indeed  it  was  his  idea  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  Imperial 
Government  to  stand  passively  by  and  witness  the  struggle  between  its 
own  subjects  preferring  legitimate  and  moderate  claims  and  a  corrupt 
and  incompetent  Boer  Government.  Intervention  of  one  sort  or  another 
he  certainly  expected — either  material  help  in  the  shape  of  British 
troops,  or  the  intervention  of  the  High  Commissioner  to  effect  a  peaceful 
settlement.  By  the  false  step  which  evoked  the  High  Commissioner's 
proclamation  he  had  forfeited  all  claim  to  the  support  on  which  he 
reckoned.  It  was  reasonable  to  suppose  therefore  that,  on  the  receipt 
of  the  proclamation  ordering  him  to  return  and  calling  on  all  British 
subjects  to  abstain  from  assisting  him,  he  would  realize  the  conse- 
quences of  his  mistake.  He  would  also  learn  from  the  Reform  Com- 
mittee's messengers  (that  is,  assuming  that  he  did  not  know  it  already) 
that  the  Johannesburg  people  neither  required  nor  wished  for  his 
intervention,  and  he  would  elect  to  leave  the  country  in  accordance 
with  the  High  Commissioner's  mandate  rather  than  continue  a  course 
which,  with  the  opposition  of  the  British  Government  added  to  that  of 
the  Boer  Government,  must  inevitably  end  in  disgrace  and  disaster. 
I'his  was  the  conclusion  arrived  at  in  the  Reform  Committee  room ; 


-^y^^, 


128  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 


and  it  was  then  considered  what  would  be  the  position  of  the  Johannes- 
burg people  if,  in  defiance  of  the  High  Commissioner's  proclamation 
and  in  violation  of  the  terms  offered  by  the  Transvaal  Government, 
they  should  adopt  aggressive  and  wholly  futile  measures  in  aid  of  Dr. 
Jameson,  only  to  find  that  he  himself  had  obeyed  the  proclamation  and 
had  turned  back. 

No  man  in  his  senses  would  have  anticipated  Dr.  Jameson's  con- 
tinuing his  march  after  receipt  of  the  proclamation  and  full  informa- 
tion as  to  the  wishes  and  position  of  the  Johannesburg  people.  But, 
apart  from  this,  it  was  the  opinion  of  military  men,  such  as  Colonel 
Heyman,  who  had  been  sent  in  by  Dr.  Jameson,  and  who  were  present 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Eeform  Committee,  that  it  would  not  be  possible 
for  the  Boers  to  stop  him,  and  that  it  would  require  a  very  large  force 
indeed  to  cope  with  a  body  of  men  so  well  trained,  well  equipped,  and 
well  led  as  his  were  thought  to  be.  It  would  moreover  need  extra- 
ordinary luck  and  management  on  the  Boers'  side  to  get  together  any 
considerable  force  in  time  to  intercept  him  before  he  should  reach 
Johannesburg.  It  may  be  added  that  the  opinion  expressed  by  these 
gentlemen  is  still  adhered  to.  They  say  that,  properly  led,  Jameson's 
force  should  have  got  in  without  firing  a  shot,  and  that,  properly 
handled,  they  should  not  have  been  stopped  by  a  much  greater  number 
of  Boers.     However,  this  is  as  it  may  be. 

It  has  been  stated,  and  the  statement  has  gained  considerable 
credence,  that  the  very  train  which  brought  the  deputation  back  to 
Johannesburg  after  their  negotiations  with  the  Government  also 
brought  a  detachment  of  the  State  artillery  with  field-pieces  and  a 
plentiful  supply  of  ammunition  to  reinforce  the  Boers,  who  were  then  in 
a  position  to  intercept  Dr.  Jameson,  and  it  has  further  been  suggested 
that  the  obvious  course  for  the  Eeform  Committee  to  have  taken  was 
to  break  up  the  line  and  to  stop  trains  passing  out  towards  Krugersdorp, 
also  to  seize  the  telegraph  and  railway  offices.  Such  action  would  have 
been  perfectly  futile.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  artiUery  and  ammuni- 
tion were  sent  direct  from  Pretoria  by  waggon,  and  not  through 
Johannesburg  at  aU.^  Any  such  action  as  the  seizing  of  the  telegraph 
and  railway  offices  would  have  been  useless  in  itself,  if  intended  to 
aid  Jameson's  force,  and  would  of  course  have  been  a  declaration  of 
war  on  the  part  of  the  Committee  against  the  Transvaal  Government, 
a  declaration  which  they  were  not  able  to  back  up  by  any  effective 
measures.     A  partially  successful  attempt  was  made  to  blow  up  the 

^  Captain  Ferreira,  at  one  time  in  command  of  the  guard  over  the 
Reformers,  informed  the  writer  that  he  had  formed  one  of  the  cavalry  escort. 
*  It  is  a  good  story,'  he  said,  '  but  what  fools  we  would  have  been  to  send  our 
guns  shut  up  in  trucks  through  a  hostile  camp  of  20,000  armed  men — as 
we  thought — round  two  sides  of  a  triangle,  instead  of  going  by  the  shorter 
and  safe  road.' 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  129 

line  between  Joliannesburg  and  Knigersdorp  by  individuals  who 
thought  that  they  would  be  rendering  a  service  to  the  cause,  and 
who  did  not  stop  to  calculate  the  full  effects  of  their  action. 

During  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  while  the  deputation  were 
still  engaged  in  negotiation  with  the  Government  Commission,  the 
messenger  despatched  by  Sir  Jacobus  de  "Wet,  British  Agent  in  Pre- 
toria, to  deliver  the  High  Commissioner's  proclamation  to  Dr.  Jame- 
son, arrived  in  Johannesburg,  and  applied  at  the  Reform  Committee 
rooms  for  an  escort  through  the  lines  of  defence,  showing  at  the  same 
time  the  passport  given  him  by  the  Commandant- General  to  pass  him 
through  the  Boer  lines.  It  was  immediately  decided  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  in  order  to  bring  further  pressure  to  bear  upon 
Dr.  Jameson  to  induce  him  to  leave  the  country  peacefully,  and  to 
make  finally  and  absolutely  sure  that  he  should  realize  the  true  posi- 
tion of  affairs.  Mr.  J,  J.  Lace,  a  member  of  the  Reform  Committee, 
volunteered  to  accompany  the  messenger  to  explain  to  Dr.  Jameson 
the  state  of  affairs  in  Johannesburg  and  to  induce  him  to  return  while 
there  was  yet  a  chance  of  retrieving  the  position.  On  the  return  of 
the  deputation  this  action  of  the  rest  of  the  Committee  was  cordially 
approved,  and  was  found  to  be  in  entire  accord  with  the  attitude  taken 
up  by  them  in  their  dealings  with  the  Government. 

If  any  evidence  were  needed  as  to  the  sincerity  and  singleness  of 
purpose  of  the  Committee,  the  action  taken  by  the  deputation  in 
Pretoria  and  the  rest  of  the  Committee  in  Johannesburg,  whilst  acting 
independently  of  each  other  and  without  any  opportunity  of  discussing 
matters  and  deciding  upon  a  common  hne,  should  be  sufficient.  If  the 
Committee  as  a  whole  had  not  been  following  an  honest  and  clearly- 
defined  policy  they  would  have  inevitably  come  to  grief  under  such 
trying  circumstances.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  steps  taken  during 
Wednesday  by  the  two  sections  acting  independently  were  wholly  in 
accord. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  it  became  known  that  Dr.  Jameson  had 
caused  to  be  published  the  letter  of  invitation  quoted  in  another 
chapter,  and  from  this  it  was  clear  to  those  who  knew  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  letter  was  given  that  he  had  deliberately  started  in 
violation  of  the  agreement  entered  into,  that  he  had  thrown  discretion 
to  the  winds,  and  decided  to  force  the  hands  of  the  Johannesburg 
people.  The  result  of  this  was  that  among  the  leaders  it  was  realized 
that  Dr.  Jameson  was  playing  his  own  hand  with  complete  indifference 
to  the  consequences  for  others ;  but  the  vast  majority  of  the  Rand 
community  could  not  possibly  realize  this,  and  were  firmly  convinced 
that  the  invading  force  had  come  in  in  good  faith,  believing  the  com- 
munity to  be  in  extreme  peril. 

In  sensational  matters  of  this  kind  it  is  very  often  the  case  that  a 
single  phrase  will  illustrate  the  position  more  aptly  than  chapters  of 

9 


130  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

description.  It  i&  unfortunately  also  the  case  that  phrases  are  used 
and  catch  the  ear  and  survive  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  carrying 
with  them  meanings  which  they  were  never  intended  to  convey.  In 
the  course  of  the  events  which  took  place  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
many  such  expressions  were  seized  on  and  continually  quoted.  Among 
them,  and  belonging  to  the  second  description  above  referred  to,  is  the 
phrase  '  Stand  by  Jameson.'  It  was  never  used  in  the  sense  of  sending 
out  an  armed  force  to  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Jameson,  because  it  was 
recognised  from  the  beginning  that  such  a  course  was  not  within  the 
range  of  possibility.  The  phrase  was  first  used  in  the  Executive 
Council  Chamber  when  the  deputation  from  the  Reform  Committee 
met  the  Government  Commission,  and  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips  explained 
the  nature  of  the  connection  between  the  Johannesburg  people  and 
the  invading  force.  After  showing  that  the  Eand  community  were 
not  responsible  for  his  immediate  action,  and  after  acknowledging  that 
he  was  on  the  border  with  the  intention  of  rendering  assistance  if  it 
should  be  necessary,  he  said  that  the  Uitlanders  nevertheless  believed 
that,  owing  to  circumstances  of  which  they  were  ignorant,  Dr. 
Jameson  had  started  in  absolute  good  faith  to  come  to  their  assistance, 
and  for  that  reason  they  were  determined  to  stand  by  him.  For  that 
reason  they  offered  their  persons  as  security  for  his  peaceful  evacua- 
tion of  the  country— a  course  which  was  then,  and  is  still,  deemed  to 
be  *  standing  by  him '  in  as  effective  and  practical  a  manner  as  it  was 
possible  for  men  in  their  position  to  do. 

The  reproach  levelled  at  the  Reform  Conunittee  by  members  of  the 
Transvaal  Government  ever  since  the  surrender  of  Dr.  Jameson  is 
that,  whilst  professing  not  to  support  hostile  action  against  the  State, 
and  whilst  avowing  loyalty  to  the  Republic,  the  people  of  Johannes- 
burg did  not  give  the  logical  and  practical  proof  of  such  loyalty  that 
the  Government  were  entitled  to  expect ;  that  is,  they  did  not  take  up 
arms  to  fight  against  the  invaders.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that  such  a  preposterous  idea  never  entered  the  minds  of  any  of  the 
Uitlanders.  When  all  is  said  and  done,  blood  is  thicker  than  water, 
alike  with  the  Uitlanders  as  with  the  Boers.  The  Boers  have  shown 
on  many  occasions  that  they  elect  to  side  with  their  kin  on  the 
promptings  of  their  heart  rather  than  support  those  whom  their  judg- 
ment shows  them  to  be  worthy  of  their  assistance.  Had  the  Uit- 
landers been  sufficiently  armed  there  can  be  no  question  that,  rightly 
or  wrongly,  they  would  have  sided  with  Jameson,  and  would  have 
given  him  effective  support  had  they  known  that  he  needed  it.  Had 
he  ever  reached  Johannesburg  the  enthusiasm  would  have  been  wild 
and  unbounded,  and,  however  much  the  cooler  heads  among  the  com- 
munity might  realize  that  such  a  partial  success  might  have  proved  a 
more  serious  misfortune  than  the  total  failure  has  been,  no  such  con- 
siderations would  have  weighed  with  the  community  in  general ;  and 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  131 

the  men  who  were  aiming  at  practical  and  lasting  good  results,  rather 
than  cultivating  popular  enthusiasm,  would  have  been  swept  aside, 
and  others,  more  in  accord  with  the  humour  of  the  moment,  would 
have  taken  their  places. 

It  is  useless  to  speculate  as  to  what  would  have  happened  had 
Dr.  Jameson  reached  Johannesburg.  The  prestige  of  success  might 
have  enabled  him,  as  it  has  enabled  many  others,  to  achieve  the 
apparently  impossible,  and  compel  the  acceptance  of  terms  which 
would  have  insured  a  lasting  peace ;  but  as  Johannesburg  had  neither 
arms  nor  ammunition,  especially  the  latter,  commensurate  with  the 
requirements  of  anything  like  severe  fighting,  even  for  a  single  day, 
and  as  the  invading  force  had  not  more  than  enough  for  its  own 
requirements,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  anything  but  disaster 
could  have  followed. 

Throughout  the  troubles  which  followed  the  invasion,  it  was  not 
the  personal  suffering  or  loss  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Johannesburg 
people  that  touched  them  so  nearly  as  the  taunts  which  were  unjustly 
levelled  at  them  for  not  rendering  assistance  to  Dr.  Jameson.  The 
terms,  '  cowards,'  *  poltroons,'  and  *  traitors,'  and  the  name  of  *  Judas- 
burg,'  absolutely  undeserved  as  they  were  known  to  be,  rankled  in  the 
hearts  of  all,  and  it  was  only  by  the  exercise  of  much  self-denial  and 
restraint  that  it  was  possible  for  men  to  remain  silent  during  the 
period  preceding  Dr.  Jameson's  trial.  Extremely  bitter  feeling  was 
roused  by  the  tacit  approval  given  to  these  censures  by  the  officers  of 
the  invading  force,  for  their  continued  silence  was  naturally  construed 
to  be  tacit  approval.  *  Not  once,'  said  one  of  the  Eeformers,  '  has  a 
single  member  of  Dr.  Jameson's  party  come  forward  anil  stated  that 
the  imputations  on  the  Reformers  were  undeserved  ;  yet  we  gave 
them  the  benefit  of  every  doubt,  and  tried  throughout  to  screen  them, 
whilst  all  the  time  the  Doctor  and  at  least  three  of  his  companions 
knew  that  they  had  started  to  "  make  their  own  flotation."  That  is 
not  cricket.' 

It  has  been  urged  on  behalf  of  Dr.  Jameson  that  he  could  not  have 
been  asked  to  state  prior  to  his  trial  that  he  never  expected  or  arranged 
for  help  from  Johannesburg — that  his  case  was  already  a  sufficiently 
difficult  one  without  embarrassing  it  vidth  other  people's  affairs.  Yet 
it  was  noted  in  Johannesburg  that,  when  a  report  was  circulated  to 
the  effect  that  he  had  started  the  invasion  on  the  instructions  of  Mr. 
Cecil  Rhodes,  he  and  another  officer  of  bis  force  wrote  jointly  to  the 
English  papers  to  say  that  there  was  no  truth  whatever  in  the  state- 
ment. The  consequences  of  taking  upon  himself  the  responsibility 
for  initiative  in  this  way,  while  he  had  yet  to  undergo  his  trial,  were 
far  more  serious  than  would  have  followed  a  simple  statement  to  the 
effect  that  injustice  was  being  done  to  the  Rand  community  in  the 
charges  of  cowardice  laid  against  it.     It  was  felt  then — and  the  feeling 

9-2 


132  THE  TRANSVAAL  FEOM  WITHIN 

has  not  in  any  way  abated — that  Dr.  Jameson  regarded  the  fate  and 
interests  of  the  people  of  Johannesburg  with  indifference,  looking  upon 
them  merely  as  pawns  in  a  game  that  he  was  playing.  It  was  only 
Mr.  Rhodes  who  took  an  opportunity  to  say  that  •  the  Johannesburg 
people  are  not  cowards  ;  they  were  rushed.' 

The  general  public  did  not  know  the  circumstances  under  which 
Dr.  Jameson  had  agreed  to  remain  on  the  frontier.  They  did  not 
know  that  telegrams  and  messengers  had  been  despatched  to  stop  him, 
nor  was  it  felt  advisable  to  inform  them  of  these  steps  at  a  time  when 
matters  had  seemingly  gone  too  far  to  be  stopped.  It  was  considered 
that  any  statement  of  that  kind  put  forth  at  that  particular  juncture 
would  simply  tend  to  create  a  panic  from  which  no  good  results  could 
accrue,  and  that,  as  Dr.  Jameson  had  cast  the  die  and  crossed  his 
Rubicon,  as  little  as  .possible  should  be  done  needlessly  to  embarrass 
him.  Suggestions  were  continually  being  made,  and  have  been  and 
are  still  being  frequently  quoted,  to  the  effect  that  a  force  should  be 
sent  out  to  create  a  diversion  among  the  Boer  commandoes  in  Jame- 
son's favour.  Suggestions  were  made  by  men  who  had  not  the  re- 
motest idea  of  the  resources  at  the  command  of  the  Committee,  or 
who  did  not  stop  to  think  of  what  might  have  happened  had  Johannes- 
burg been  depleted  of  its  armed  force,  and  so  left  at  the  mercy  of  a  few 
hundred  Boers.  There  were  always,  as  there  will  always  be,  men 
prepared  for  any  reckless  gamble,  but  this  course  was  most  earnestly 
considered  time  after  time  by  the  Committee  when  some  fresh  sugges- 
tion or  development  seemed  to  warrant  a  reconsideration  of  the  de- 
cision already  arrived  at  not  to  attempt  any  aggressive  measures. 
Finally,  the  matter  was  by  common  consent  left  in  the  hands  of 
Colonel  Heyman,  an  officer  who  has  rendered  distinguished  service 
in  South  Africa,  and  whose  reputation  and  judgment  were  acknow- 
ledged by  all.  This  course  was  the  more  readily  agreed  to  since  Colonel 
Heyman  was  by  none  more  highly  thought  of  than  by  Dr.  Jameson 
himself.  The  decision  given  by  him  was  that  the  invading  force, 
properly  led,  drilled  and  equipped  as  it  was,  was  a  far  stronger  body 
than  the  entire  force  enrolled  under  the  Reform  Committee,  and  that 
it  would  require  a  very  large  force  indeed  of  burghers  to  stop  it.  If 
Dr.  Jameson  had  thought  that  he  would  need  help,  there  had  been 
ample  time  for  him  to  send  a  fast  mounted  messenger  to  Johannes- 
burg. He  had  not  done  so ;  and  it  was  therefore  to  be  presumed  that 
as  he  had  taken  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  invasion,  he  was 
prepared  for  all  contingencies ;  but,  apart  from  this,  the  force  available 
in  Johannesburg,  which  would  be  in  a  few  days  a  very  good  one 
behind  earthworks,  was  at  that  moment  utterly  unfit  to  march  out  in 
the  open.  It  would  in  its  then  condition,  and  with  no  equipment  of 
field-pieces,  be  liable  to  be  annihilated  by  a  relatively  small  number  of 
Boers  before  it  should  reach  Dr.  Jameson.     It  was  decided,  however, 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  138 

that,  should  fighting  take  place  within  such  distance  from  the  town 
that  men  could  be  taken  from  the  defences  without  endangering  the 
safety  of  the  town,  a  force  should  be  taken  out  at  once. 

Fault  has  repeatedly  been  found  with  the  military  organization  in 
Johannesburg  for  not  having  been  well  served  by  an  Intelligence 
Department,  and  for  not  knowing  from  day  to  day  what  the  where- 
abouts and  position  of  Dr.  Jameson's  forces  were. 

The  reply  to  this  is  that  the  Johannesburg  people  had  only  tv/o  days 
in  which  to  look  after  themselves  and  protect  themselves  in  the  crisis 
in  which  Dr.  Jameson's  action  had  plunged  them ;  that  as  a  matter  of 
fact  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  establish  communication  with  the 
invading  force ;  that  the  Intelligence  Department — which,  considering 
how  short  a  time  was  available  for  its  organization,  was  by  no  means 
unsatisfactory — was  employed  in  many  directions  besides  that  in  which 
Dr.  Jameson  was  moving ;  that  some  success  was  achieved  in  com- 
municating with  him,  but  that  the  risks  to  be  taken,  owing  to  the 
imperative  necessity  of  saving  time  at  almost  any  cost,  were  greater 
than  usual,  and  resulted  in  the  capture  of  eight  or  ten  of  the  men 
employed  in  the  endeavour  to  communicate  with  Dr.  Jameson  alone ; 
and  finally,  that  since  he  had  seen  fit  to  violate  all  the  arrangements 
entered  into  and  dash  into  the  country  in  defiance  of  the  expressed 
wishes  of  the  people,  whom  he  was  bent  on  rescuing  whether  they 
wished  to  be  rescued  or  not,  the  least  that  could  be  expected  of  him 
and  of  his  force  was  that  they  should  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
road  which  they  proposed  to  travel,  and  take  the  necessary  steps  to 
keep  the  Johannesburg  people  posted  as  to  their  movements. 

It  has  been  urged  by  a  prominent  member  of  the  invading  force — 
not  Dr.  Jameson — that  since  the  force  had  been  kept  on  the  border  for 
some  weeks  with  the  sole  object  of  assisting  Johannesburg  people  when 
they  should  require  assistance,  the  very  least  that  they  were  entitled 
to  expect  was  that  someone  should  be  sent  out  to  show  them  the  road, 
and  not  leave  them  to  go  astray  for  want  of  a  guide.  To  this  it  was 
replied  that  a  force  which  had  been,  as  they  stated,  on  the  border  for 
several  weeks  with  the  sole  object  of  invading  the  country  by  a  certain 
road,  had  ample  time,  and  might  certainly  have  been  expected  to  know 
the  road ;  and  as  for  relieving  Johannesburg  in  its  necessity,  the  argu- 
ment might  have  applied  had  this  '  necessity '  ever  arisen ;  but  since 
the  idea  was  to  force  the  hands  of  the  Eeformers,  the  latter  might 
fairly  regard  themselves  as  absolved  from  every  undertaking,  specific 
or  implied,  which  might  ever  have  been  made  in  connection  with  the 
business.  But  at  that  time  the  excuse  had  not  been  devised  that  there 
had  ever  been  an  undertaking  to  assist  Jameson  ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  readily  admitted  that  such  an  idea  was  never  entertained  for  a 
moment ;  nor  can  one  understand  how  anyone  cognizant  of  the  telegram 
from  Dr.  Jameson  to  Dr.  Eutherfoord  Harris — '  "We  wiU  make  our  own 


134  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

flotatiion  by  the  aid  of  the  letter  which  I  shall  publish ' — can  set  up  any 
defence  at  the  expense  of  others. 

By  Wednesday  night  it  was  known  that  Major  Heany  had  passed 
through  Mafeldng  in  time  to  join  Dr.  Jameson's  force,  and  that,  bar 
some  extraordinary  accident.  Captain  Holden  must  have  met  Dr. 
Jameson  on  his  way,  since  he  had  been  despatched  along  the  road 
which  Dr.  Jameson  would  take  in  marching  on  Johannesburg ;  and  if 
all  other  reasons  did  not  suffice  to  assure  the  Committee  that  Dr.  Jameson 
would  not  be  relying  on  any  assistance  from  Johannesburg,  the  presence 
of  one  or  other  of  the  two  officers  above  mentioned  would  enable  him 
to  know  that  he  should  not  count  upon  Johannesburg  to  give  him 
active  support.  Both  were  thoroughly  well  acquainted  with  the 
position,  and  were  able  to  inform  him,  and  have  since  admitted  that 
they  did  inform  him,  that  he  should  not  count  upon  a  single  man 
going  out  to  meet  him.  Captain  Holden — who  prior  to  the  trial  of 
Dr.  Jameson  and  his  comrades,  prompted  by  loyalty  to  his  chief, 
abstained  from  making  any  statement  which  could  possibly  embarrass 
him — immediately  after  the  trial  expressed  his  regret  at  the  unjust 
censm-e  upon  the  Johannesburg  people,  and  the  charges  of  cowardice 
and  bad  faith  which  had  been  levelled  against  them,  and  stated  that  he 
reached  Pitsani  the  night  before  Dr.  Jameson  started,  and  that  he 
faithfully  and  fully  delivered  the  messages  which  he  was  charged  to 
deliver,  and  earnestly  impressed  upon  Dr.  Jameson  the  position  in 
which  the  Johannesburg  people  were  placed,  and  their  desire  that  he 
should  not  embarrass  them  by  any  precipitate  action. 

Before  daybreak  on  Thursday,  January  2,  Bugler  Vall^,  of  Dr.  Jame- 
son's force,  arrived  in  the  Eeform  Committee  room,  and  reported 
himself  as  having  been  sent  by  the  Doctor  at  about  midnight  after  the 
battle  at  Krugersdorp  on  Wednesday.  He  stated  that  the  Doctor  had 
supplied  him  with  the  best  horse  in  the  troop,  and  sent  him  on  to 
inform  Colonel  Khodes  where  he  was.  He  described  the  battle  at  the 
Queen's  Mine,  Krugersdorp,  and  stated  that  the  force  had  been  obhged 
to  retreat  from  the  position  in  which  they  had  fought  in  order  to  take 
up  a  better  one  on  higher  ground,  but  that  the  position  in  which  they 
had  encamped  for  the  night  was  not  a  very  good  one.  When  questioned 
9.S  to  the  exact  message  that  he  had  been  told  to  deliver,  he  replied : 
*  The  Doctor  says,  "  Tell  them  that  I  am  getting  along  all  right,  but 
they  must  send  out  to  meet  me."  '  He  was  asked  what  was  meant  by 
'  sending  cut  to  meet  him.'  Did  it  mean  to  send  a  force  out  ?  Did  he 
want  help  ?  His  reply  was :  '  No ;  the  Doctor  says  he  is  getting  along 
all  right,  but  you  must  send  out  to  meet  him.'  The  messenger  was 
keenly  questioned  upon  this  point,  but  adhered  to  the  statement  that 
the  force  was  getting  along  all  right,  and  would  be  in  early  in  the 
morning.  Colonel  Rhodes,  who  was  the  first  to  see  the  messenger, 
was,  however,   dissatisfied  with    the    grudging  admissions  and  the 


THE  COMMITTEE'S  DILEMMA  135 

ambiguous  message,  and  expressed  the  belief  that  *  the  Doctor  wants 
help,  but  is  ashamed  to  say  so.'  Acting  promptly  on  this  conviction, 
he  despatched  all  the  mounted  men  available  (about  100)  under  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Bettington,  with  instructions  to  ascertain  the  where- 
abouts of  Dr.  Jameson's  force,  and  if  possible  to  join  them. 

This  was  done  without  the  authority  of  the  Committee  and  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  line  already  decided  upon.  It  was  moreover  con- 
sidered to  be  taking  a  wholly  unnecessary  risk,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
an  attack  upon  the  town  was  threatened  by  burgher  forces  on  the 
north-west  side,  and  it  was  immediately  decided  by  a  number  of 
members,  who  heard  of  Colonel  Ehodes's  action,  to  despatch  a  mes- 
senger ordering  the  troop  not  to  proceed  more  than  ten  miles  from 
the  town,  but  to  reconnoitre  and  ascertain  what  Dr.  Jameson's  position 
was,  with  the  reservation  that,  should  it  be  found  that  he  actually 
needed  help,  such  assistance  as  was  possible  should  of  course  be  given 
him.  As  a  matter  of  hard  fact,  it  would  not  have  been  possible  for  the 
troop  to  reach  Dr.  Jameson  before  his  surrender,  so  that  the  action 
taken  upon  the  only  message  received  from  the  invading  force  had  no 
practical  bearing  upon  the  results. 

At  daybreak  on  Thursday  morning  Mr.  Lace  and  the  despatch  rider 
sent  by  the  British  Agent  to  deliver  the  High  Commissioner's  pro- 
clamation and  the  covering  despatch  were  passed  through  the  Dutch 
lines  under  the  authority  of  the  Commandant-General,  and  they 
delivered  the  documents  to  Dr.  Jameson  in  person.  In  reply  to  Sir 
Jacobus  do  Wet's  appeal,  Dr.  Jameson  said :  '  Tell  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet 
that  I  have  received  his  despatch  ;  and  that  I  shall  see  him  in  Pretoria 
to-morrow.'  Mr.  Lace  briefly  informed  him  of  the  position,  as  he  had 
undertaken  to  do.  The  presence  of  a  Boer  escort,  and  the  shortness 
of  the  time  allowed  for  the  delivery  of  the  messages,  prevented  any 
lengthy  conversation.  Dr.  Jameson  made  no  comment  further  than 
to  say,  '  It  is  too  late  now,'  and  then  asked  the  question,  '  Where  are 
the  troops  ?'  to  which  Mr.  Lace  replied,  '  What  troops  do  you  mean  ? 
We  know  nothing  about  troops.'  It  did  not  occur  to  Mr.  Lace,  or  to 
anyone  else,  that  he  could  have  meant  '  troops  from  Johannesburg.' 
With  the  receipt  of  Dr.  Jameson's  verbal  reply  to  the  British  Agent's 
despatch-carrier  the  business  was  concluded,  and  the  escort  from  the 
Boer  lines  insisted  on  leaving,  taking  with  them  Mr.  Lace  and  the 
despatch-rider.    He  offered  no  further  rcmai-k. 


186  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   INVASION 

From  the  evidence  on  the  trial  at  bar  of  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  comrades, 
it  appears  that  about  October  20,  1895,  orders  were  given  to  the  Mata- 
beleland  Border  Police  to  move  southward.  After  this,  further  mobili- 
zation of  other  bodies  took  place,  and  during  the  first  week  in  December 
there  collected  at  Pitsani  Potlogo  the  body  of  men  from  whom  Dr. 
Jameson's  invading  column  was  afterwards  selected.  For  three  weeks 
the  men  were  continuously  drilled  and  practised  in  all  warlike  exercises 
and  thoroughly  prepared  for  the  enterprise  which  their  leaders  had  in 
view.  On  Sunday,  December  29,  at  about  three  in  the  afternoon,  the 
little  force  was  paraded,  and  Dr.  Jameson  read  to  them  the  letter  of 
invitation  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter.  He  is  alleged  by  certain 
witnesses  to  have  said  that  he  had  just  received  this,  and  that  they 
could  not  refuse  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  their  countrymen  in  distress, 
and  he  confidently  appealed  to  the  men  to  support  him.  He  said  that 
he  did  not  anticipate  any  bloodshed  at  all.  They  would  proceed  by 
forced  marching  straight  through  to  Johannesburg,  and  would  reach 
that  town  before  the  Boers  were  aware  of  his  movements,  and  cer- 
tainly before  they  could  concentrate  to  stop  him.  It  has  been  alleged 
by  some  witnesses  that  the  men  of  the  Bechuanaland  Border  Police 
who  advanced  from  Mafeking  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Grey  and 
Major  Coventry  were  not  so  fully  informed  as  to  their  destination  and 
the  reasons  for  the  movement  until  they  were  actually  in  marching 
order  to  start.  It  would  appear,  however,  from  the  general  summary 
of  the  evidence,  and  from  the  reports  of  the  men  who  took  part  in  the 
expedition,  that  they  were  informed  that  the  destination  of  the  force 
was  Johannesburg,  that  the  object  was  to  render  assistance  to  their 
countrymen  in  that  town  who  were  being  grossly  misruled  by  the 
Transvaal  Government,  and  were  at  that  time  in  grievous  straits  and 
peril  through  having  endeavoured  to  assert  their  rights  and  obtain  the 
reforms  for  which  they  had  so  long  been  agitating,  and  that  the  im- 
mediate reason  for  marching  was  the  receipt  of  an  urgent  appeal  from 
Johannesburg  citizens,  which  appeal  (the  letter  of  invitation)  was  duly 
read  to  them.  In  reply  to  questions  as  to  whether  they  were  fighting 
under  the  Queen's  orders,  they  were  informed  that  they  were  going  to 
fight  for  the  supremacy  of  the  British  flag  in  South  Africa.  A  con- 
siderable proportion  of  the  men  decHned  to  take  part  in  the  enterprise, 
and  it  is  probably  largely  due  to  defections  at  the  last  moment  that  the 
statement  was  made  that  700  men  had  started  with  Dr.  Jameson, 
whereas  it  appears  that  only  480  ever  left  the  Protectorate. 


THE  INVASION  137 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  Majority  Report  of  the  Select  Com- 
mittee on  the  Jameson  Eaid  appointed  by  the  Cape  House  of  Assembly : 

On  the  26th  December  there  was  a  sudden  check.  On  the  afternoon  of  that 
day  Colonel  Rhodes  telegraphs  to  Charter,  Capetown  :  '  It  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  postpone  flotation.  Charles  Leonard  left  last  night  for  Capetown.' 
Messages  to  the  same  effect  were  sent  from  Mr.  S.  W.  Jameson  to  his  brother, 
and  from  Dr.  Harris  for  the  Chartered  Company  to  Dr.  Jameson,  the  latter 
concluding :  '  So  you  must  not  move  till  you  hear  from  us  again.  Too  awful. 
Very  sorry. ' 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  hitch  that  occurred,  there  is  some  light  thrown  on 
it  by  the  statement  from  Mr.  S.  W.  Jameson  to  his  brother  that  any  move- 
ment must  be  postponed  '  until  we  have  C.  J.  Rhodes's  absolute  pledge  tliat 
authority  of  Imperial  Government  will  not  be  insisted  on,'  a  point  that  is 
further  alluded  to  in  Telegram  No.  6,537  of  Appendix  QQ  of  the  28th 
December. 

"Whatever  the  exact  nature  of  the  obstacle  was,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
some  at  least  of  the  Joliannesburg  confederates  were  much  alarmed,  and 
took  all  possible  steps  to  stay  proceedings. 

In  addition  to  urgent  telegrams,  special  messengers  were  sent  to  impress  on 
Dr.  Jameson  the  necessity  for  delay.  One  of  these,  Captain  Holden,  made  his 
v/ay  across  country. 

According  to  Mr.  Hammond's  evidence,  Holden  arrived  at  Mafeking  on  the 
28th  December,  and  went  in  with  the  column. 

The  other  messenger  was  Captain  Maurice  Heany,  who  left  Johannesburg 
on  the  26th  December,  and  on  the  27th  telegraphed  from  Bloemfontein  to 
Charter,  Capetown,  informing  them  that  *  Zebrawood '  (Colonel  Rhodes)  had 
asked  him  to  'stop  "Zahlbar"  (Dr.  Jameson)  till  Heany  sees  him,'  and 
asking  that  a  special  train  might  be  arranged  for  him.  Dr.  Harris  replied  to 
Kimberley  on  the  28th  informing  him  that  a  special  train  was  arranged,  and 
added,  '  lose  no  time,  or  you  will  be  late.' 

It  is  in  evidence  that  this  special  train  was  provided  by  the  Chartered 
Company,  that  Heany  left  by  it,  caught  up  the  ordinary  train  at  Vryburg, 
and  that  he  reached  Mafeking  at  4.30  a.m.  on  Sunday,  the  29th. 

The  evidence  is  that  he  was  coming  with  an  urgent  message  to  stop 
Dr.  Jameson  ;  that  on  his  arrival  at  Mafeking  he  waked  up  Mr.  Isaacs,  a 
local  storekeeper,  and  purchased  a  pair  of  field-boots  and  a  kit-bag,  and  pro- 
ceeded by  special  cart  to  Pitsani ;  and  that  he  subsequently  on  the  same 
evening  accompanied  Dr.  Jameson  on  his  inroad  and  was  captured  at 
Doornkop.^ 

On  the  27th,  after  receiving  the  discouraging  telegrams  mentioned  above 
from  Johannesburg,  Dr.  Jameson  telegraphed  to  Harris,  Charter,  Capetown, 
'  I  am  afraid  of  Bechuanaland  Police  for  cutting  wire.     They  have  now  all 

^  In  the  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  the 
following  questions  and  answers  occur,  Mr.  Blake  questioning  and  Major 
Heany  replying : 

'  Haying  got  the  message,  you  went  off  with  it  and  you  got  in,  as  we  see  by 
the  evidence,  as  quickly  as  you  could,  and  you  just  gave  the  message  as 
accurately  as  you  could  to  Dr.  Jameson  ? — I  read  the  message  from  my  note- 
book absolutely  accurately  to  Dr.  Jameson. 

*  And  he  did  not  lose  much  time  in  making  up  his  mind  ? — No  ;  he  went 
outside  his  tent.  He  was  in  a  bell-tent  when  I  arrived,  and  he  went  outside 
and  walked  up  and  down  for  about  twenty  minutes,  and  then  he  came  in  and 
announced  hie  determination. ' 


138  THE  TRAJTSVAAL  FEOM  WITHIN 

gone  forvv'ard,  but  will  endeavour  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  Therefore  expect  to 
receive  telegram  from  you  nine  to-morrow  morning  authorizing  movements. 
Surely  Col.  F.  W.  Rhodes  advisable  to  come  to  terms  at  once.  Give 
guarantee,  or  you  can  telegraph  before  Charles  Leonard  arrived.'  Thig 
doubtless  alludes  to  the  necessity  for  guarantee  mentioned  in  the  m.essage 
from  S.  W.  Jameson,  and  the  alternative  suggestion  was  that  authority  to 
proceed  should  be  given  before  the  arrival  of  the  Johannesburg  delegate  at 
Capetown. 

Two  hours  later  on  the  same  day  he  sends  another  message  of  the  utmost 
importance.  He  informs  Harris,  Charter,  Capetown,  as  follows  :  '  If  I  cannot, 
as  I  expect,  communicate  with  Bechuanaland  Border  Police  cutting,  then  we 
must  carry  into  effect  original  plans.  They  have  then  two  days  for  flotation. 
If  they  do  not,  we  will  make  our  own  flotation  with  help  of  letter,  which  I 
will  publish.* 

On  the  same  day  Dr.  Jameson  telegi-aphed  to  his  brother  in  Johannesburg 
as  follows  :  *  Guarantee  already  given,  therefore  let  J.  H.  Hammond  telegraph 
instantly  all  right. ' 

To  this  Mr.  Hammond  sent  a  most  positive  reply  absolutely  condemning 
his  proposed  action. 

As  bearing  upon  the  attitude  of  the  force  at  Pitsani,  it  may  be  noted  that 
on  the  same  day  that  the  foregoing  correspondence  was  taking  place  Mr.  A. 
Bates  was  despatched  from  Mafeking  into  the  Transvaal  with  instructions  from 
Major  Raleigh  Grey  to  collect  information  and  meet  Dr.  Jameson  en  r&iUe. 
He  was  supplied  with  a  horse  and  money,  and  seems  to  have  done  his  best  to 
carry  out  instructions. 

Early  the  next  day  Dr.  Jameson  telegraphed  to  Harris,  Charter,  Cape- 
town :  '  There  will  be  no  flotation  if  left  to  themselves  ;  first  delay  was  races, 
which  did  not  exist ;  second  policies,  already  arranged.  All  mean  fear.^  You 
had  better  go  as  quickly  as  possible  and  report  fully,  or  tell  Hon.  C.  J.  Rhodes 
to  allow  me.' 

The  reply  to  this  was  :  *  It  is  all  right  if  you  will  only  wait.  Captain 
Maurice  Heany  comes  to  you  from  Col.  F.  W.  Rhodes  by  special  train  to-day.' 
And,  again,  two  hours  later.  Dr.  Harris  for  the  Chartered  Company  tele- 
graphs :  '  Goold  Adams  arrives  Mafeking  Monday,  and  Heany,  I  think,  arrives 
to-night ;  after  seeing  him,  you  and  we  must  judge  regarding  flotation,  but  all 
our  foreign  friends  are  now  dead  against  it  and  say  public  will  not  subscribe 
one  penny  towards  it  even  with  you  as-^director — Ichabod.' 

Still,  on  the  same  day  two  further  telegrams  to  Dr.  Jameson  were  sent  fronr 
CapetoM-n,  almost  together,  of  a  strongly  discouraging  tenor.  One  of  them 
concludes  by  saying  '  we  cannot  have  fiasco, '  and  the  other  informs  Dr.  Jame- 
son that  Lionel  Phillips  anticipates  complete  failure  of  any  premature  action. 

1  In  the  course  of  the  Inquiry  at  Westminster,  Dr.  Jameson  himself  took 
occasion  to  explain  this  reference,  when  answering  a  question  put  by  Mr. 
Sidney  Buxton. 

Knowing  what  you  do  now  of  the  position  at  Johannesburg,  do  yon  think 
it  was  within  their  power  to  send  out  300  mounted  men  ? — I  cannot  give  an 
opinion  upon  that  ;  I  think  all  their  actions  were  perfectly  bondjide.  There 
is  one  telegram  here  which  has  been  brought  up  against  me  very  unpleasantly, 
which  I  wish  I  had  never  sent,  where  '  fear '  is  imputed  in  the  telegram  as  it 
stands  here.  My  explanation  is  that  I  was  irritated  at  the  time  at  the  trouble 
going  on,  and  that  I  used  it  inadvertently,  or  possibly  there  is  a  mistake  in 
deciphering  the  code  word ;  as  to  that  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  am  sorry  that  it 
should  appear  so  in  the  telegram,  because  I  never  imputed  fear  or  cowardice 
to  anyone  in  connection  with  anything. 


THE  INVASION  139 

On  the  same  day  Dr.  Harris  informs  Colonel  Rhodes  at  Johannesburg  that, 
*  Have  arranged  for  Captain  Maurice  Heany  ;  Dr.  Jameson  awaiting  Capt. 
Maurice  Heany 's  arrival.     Keep  market  firm.' 

And  later : 

'  Cliarles  Leonard  says  flotation  not  popular,  and  England's  bunting  will  be 
resisted  by  public.  Is  it  true  ?  Consult  all  our  friends  and  let  me  know,  as 
Dr.  Jameson  is  quite  ready  to  move  resolution  and  is  only  waiting  for  Captain 
Heany 's  arrival.' 

A  few  hours  later  Dr.  Jameson  telegi'aphs  to  Harris,  Charter,  Capetown  : 
'  Received  your  telegram  Ichabod  re  Capt.  Maurice  Heany.  Have  no  further 
news.  I  require  to  know.  Unless  I  hear  definitely  to  the  contrary,  shall 
leave  to-morrow  evening  and  carry  into  eff"ect  my  second  telegram  (Appendix 
QQ,  No.  06365)  of  yesterday  to  you,  and  it  will  be  all  right.' 

On  the  next  morning,  Sunday  the  29th,  Heany  arrived  at  Mafeking,  and 
after  making  the  purchases  detailed  above,  left  by  special  cart  for  the  camp 
at  Pitsani,  where  he  probably  arrived  about  eight  o'clock  a.m.  At  five 
minutes  past  nine  Dr.  Jameson  telegraphed  to  Harris,  Charter,  Capetown  : 
'  Sliall  leave  to-night  for  the  Transvaal.  My  reason  is  the  final  arrangement 
with  writers  of  letter  was  that,  without  further  reference  to  them,  in  case  I 
should  hear  at  some  future  time  that  suspicions  have  been  aroused  as  to  their 
intention  among  the  Transvaal  authorities,  I  was  to  start  immediately  to 
prevent  loss  of  lives,  as  letter  states.  Renter  only  just  received.  Even  with- 
out my  own  information  of  meeting  in  the  Transvaal,  compel  immediate 
move  to  fulfil  promise  made.  We  are  simply  going  to  protect  everybody 
while  they  change  the  present  dishonest  Government,  and  take  vote  from  the 
whole  country  as  to  form  of  Government  required  by  the  whole. ' 

The  force  took  with  them  provisions  for  one  day  only,  relying  on  the 
commissariat  arrangements  made  on  their  behalf  by  Dr.  Wolff  en  route. 
They  were  well  mounted  and  armed  with  Lee-LIetford  carbines,  and 
took  with  them  eight  Maxims,  two  seven-pounders,  and  one  twelve- 
pounder.  In  order  to  facilitate  quick  movement  no  heavy  equipment 
v/as  taken,  and  but  little  spare  ammunition.  The  vehicles  attending 
the  column  were  six  Scotch  carts  and  one  Cape  cart.  The  total  dis- 
tance to  be  covered  was  about  170  miles  to  Johannesburg,  or  150  miles 
to  Krugersdorp.  The  start  was  made  from  Pitsani  shortly  after  5  p.m., 
and  marching  was  continued  throughout  the  night.  The  force  con- 
sisted of  about  350  of  the  Chartered  forces  under  Colonel  Sir  John 
Willoughby,  Major  in  the  Royal  Horse  Guards  ;  the  Hon.  H.  F.  White, 
Major  2nd  Battalion  Grenadier  Guards ;  Hon.  E.  White,  Captain 
Eoyal  Welsh  Fusiliers ;  Major  J.  B.  Tracey,  2nd  Battalion  Scots 
Guards  ;  Captain  0.  H.  Villiers,  Royal  Horse  Guards ;  and  120  of  the 
Bechuanaland  Border  Police  under  Major  Raleigh  Grey,  Captain  6th 
Inniskillen  Dragoons,  and  the  Hon.  0.  J.  Coventry,  Captain  3rd  Militia 
Battalion  Worcester  Regiment.  The  two  contingents  met  at  Malmani 
at  about  sunrise  on  Monday  morning,  December  30.  They  marched 
throughout  that  day  and  night  and  the  following  day,  Tuesday.  There 
were  half-hour  rests  about  every  twenty  miles  for  rationing  the  men 
and  feeding  and  watering  the  horses,  the  fodder  being  ready  for  the 
horses  at  various  stores.     Provisions  for  the  men  consisted  of  tinned 


140  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

meats  and  biscuits.  There  was  no  lack  of  provisions  at  all ;  but  the 
men  complained  afterwards  that  they  were  so  overcome  with  fatigue 
from  continuous  marching  that  when  they  reached  the  resting-places 
they  generally  lay  down  where  they  dismounted,  and  slept,  instead  of 
taking  the  food  which  was  ready  for  them.  A  serious  fault  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  expedition  appears  to  have  been  the  lack  of  opportunity  for 
rest  and  food  afforded  the  men.  It  was  contended  that  the  same  or  a 
higher  average  of  speed  might  have  been  attained  by  pressing  on  faster 
for  spells  of  a  few  hours  and  allowing  reasonable  intervals  for  rest  and 
refreshment.  Only  about  130  miles  had  been  covered  by  the  column 
during  the  seventy  hours  that  they  were  on  the  march  before  they  were 
first  checked  by  any  serious  opposition  from  the  Boers. 

On  Monday,  December  30,  at  about  1  p.m.,  Mr.  F.  J.  Newton, 
Besident  Commissioner  at  Mafeking,  received  the  following  telegram 
from  the  High  Commissioner,  Capetown,  dated  the  same  day  : 

It  is  rumoured  here  that  Dr.  Jameson  has  entered  the  Transvaal  with  an 
armed  force.  Is  this  so  ?  If  so,  send  special  messenger  on  fast  horse  direct- 
ing him  to  return  immediately.  A  copy  of  this  telegram  should  be  sent  to 
the  officers  with  him,  and  they  should  be  told  that  this  violation  of  the 
territory  of  a  friendly  State  is  repudiated  by  Her  Majesty's  Government,  and 
that  they  are  rendering  themselves  liable  to  severe  penalties. 

Mr.  Newton  at  once  addressed  to  Dr.  Jameson  and  each  of  the  chief 
officers  with  him  the  following  letter  : 

Sir, 

I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  copy  of  a  telegram  whicli  I  have  received 
from  His  Excellency  the  High  Commissioner,  and  I  have  accordingly  to 
request  that  you  will  immediately  comply  with  His  Excellency's  instructions. 

Trooper  J.  T.  White  was  despatched  as  soon  as  possible  with  the  five 
letters,  enclosed  in  waterproof,  with  instructions  to  ride  until  he  caught 
up  to  Dr.  Jameson  and  delivered  the  letters.  He  was  stopped  by  a 
party  of  armed  Boers  and  taken  before  Landdrost  Marais  at  Malmani, 
where  the  despatches  were  opened  and  read.  He  was  delayed  for  four 
hours,  and  then  allowed  to  proceed  with  an  escort.  On  Tuesday 
morning  he  crossed  the  Elands  River  and  caught  up  the  column  at 
about  11  a.m.  He  had  ridden  all  night,  covering  about  eighty  miles. 
He  alleges  that  at  first  the  officers  would  not  take  the  letters,  but 
eventually  Sir  John  Willoughby  accepted  and  read  his,  and  the  others 
followed  suit.  He  stated  that  he  had  been  instructed  to  deliver  the 
letters  personally,  and  to  get  a  reply.  Sir  John  "Willoughby  sent  a 
message  by  him  stating  that  the  despatches  would  be  attended  to. 
Shortly  after  this  Dr.  Jameson  also  received  a  protest  from  the  Com- 
mandant of  the  Marico  district  against  his  invasion  of  the  State,  to 
which  he  sent  the  following  reply : 


THE  INVASION  141 

December  30,  1895. 
Sir, 
I  am  in  receipt  of  your  protest  of  the  above  date,  and  have  to  inform  you 
that  I  intend  proceeding  with  my  original  plans,  which  have  no  hostile  inten- 
tion against  the  people  of  the  Transvaal ;  but  we  are  here  in  reply  to  an 
invitation  from  the  principal  residents  of  the  Rand  to  assist  them  in  their 
demand  for  justice  and  the  ordinary  rights  of  every  citizen  of  a  civilized  State. 

Yours  faithfully, 

L.  S.  Jameson. 

White  states  that  this  was  about  noon,  and  '  then  the  bugle  sounded 
and  the  column  moved  off.'  The  force  continued  advancing  in  much 
the  same  way  throughout  Tuesday,  and  at  6  p.m.  a  skirmisher  of  the 
advanced  guard  met  Lieutenant  Eloff,  of  the  Krugersdorp  District 
Police,  who  had  been  instructed  by  his  Government  to  ride  to  Mafeking, 
presumably  for  the  purpose  of  getting  information.  He  had  come 
with  a  guard  of  nine  men,  whom  he  had  left  some  distance  off,  ad- 
vancing alone  to  meet  the  column.  He  states  that  when  released, 
after  two  hours'  delay,  he  left  the  forces,  and  passing  along  the  Eusten- 
burg  road,  met  a  commando  of  some  300  Boers,  with  whom  he  made  a 
circuit  to  avoid  the  column,  and  reached  Krugersdorp  before  it  did. 
From  this  it  is  clear  that  the  Boers  were  collecting  in  considerable 
numbers  to  meet  the  invading  force,  and  were  moving  with  much 
greater  rapidity  than  their  enemies. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  at  about  5.30,  Messrs.  Theron  and  Bouwer 
(despatch  riders),  who  had  been  sent  by  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet,  British 
Agent  at  Pretoria,  at  1.30  p.m.  on  the  previous  day  with  a  despatch 
for  Dr.  Jameson,  reached  the  column  and  delivered  their  letters,  and 
stated  that  they  had  been  instructed  to  take  back  a  reply  as  soon  as 
possible.  Dr.  Jameson  said,  '  All  right ;  I'll  give  you  a  reply,'  and 
within  a  few  minutes  he  handed  to  them  the  following  letter: 

January  1. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  am  in  receipt  of  the  message  you  sent  from  His  Excellency  the  High 
Commissioner,  and  beg  to  reply,  for  His  Excellency's  information,  that  I 
should,  of  course,  desire  to  obey  his  instructions,  but,  as  I  have  a  very  large 
force  of  both  men  and  horses  to  feed,  and  having  finished  all  my  supplies  in 
the  rear,  must  perforce  proceed  to  Krugersdorp  or  Johannesburg  this  morning 
for  this  purpose.  At  the  same  time,  I  must  acknowledge  I  am  anxious  to 
fulfil  my  promise  on  the  petition  of  the  principal  residents  of  the  Eand,  to 
come  to  the  aid  of  my  fellow-men  in  their  extremity.  I  have  molested  no  one, 
and  have  explained  to  all  Dutchmen  met  that  the  above  is  my  sole  object,  and 
that  I  shall  desire  to  return  at  once  to  the  Protectorate.     I  am,  etc., 

L.  S.  Jameson. 


At  about  10.30  a.m.  on  the  same  day  (January  1)  two  cyclists, 
Messrs.  Celliers  and  Eowland,  carrying  despatches  from  members  of 
the  Reform  Committee,  met  the  column.  The  letters  were  received  by 
Dr.  Jameson,  and  taken  with  him  as  far  as  Doornkop,  where,  upon 


142  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

surrender  of  the  force,  they  appear  to  have  been  torn  up.  With  that 
good  fortune  which  seems  to  have  followed  the  Boers  throughout  this 
business,  these  torn  fragments  were  picked  up  on  the  battlefield  by  a 
Boer  official  four  months  later,  having  remained  undisturbed  during 
the  severe  rain  and  wind  storms  of  the  wet  season.  Some  portions 
were  missing,  but  the  others  were  pieced  together  and  produced  in 
evidence  against  the  Eeform  prisoners.  The  letters  are  printed  here- 
imder  as  they  were  written,  as  testified  by  the  writers,  and,  in  the 
case  of  the  first  one,  by  others  who  read  it  before  it  was  despatched. 
The  italics  represent  the  fragments  of  the  letters  which  were  never 
found ;! 

Dear  Dr., 

The  rumour  of  massacre  in  Johannesburg  that  started  yow  to  our  relief 
was  not  true.    We  are  all  right,  feeling  intense.     We  have  armed  a  lot  of 
men.  Shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you.     fFe  are  not  in  possession  of  the  town.    / 
shall  send  out  some  men  to 
You  are  a  fine  fellow.  Yours  ever, 

F.  R.2 
We  will  all  drink  a  glass  along  o'  you. 

L.  P.3 

31st,  11.30.  Kruger  has  asked  for  some  of  us  to  go  over  and  treat: 
armistice  for  24  hours  agreed  to.  My  view  is  that  they  are  in  a  funk  at 
Pretoria,  and  they  were  wrong  to  agree  from  here. 

F.  R.2 

Dr.  Jameson. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  tone  of  this  correspondence  does  not 
appear  to  be  in  accord  with  the  attitude  taken  up  by  the  Eeform  Com- 
mittee. The  letters,  however,  were  written  on  Tuesday,  the  31st, 
when  there  was  a  general  belief  that  Dr.  Jameson  had  started  in  good 
faith,  misled  by  some  false  reports.  In  the  second  letter  Colonel 
Bhodes  expresses  the  opinion  that  it  was  wrong  to  agree  to  send  in  a 
deputation  to  meet  the  Government.  This  was  written  before  the 
deputation  had  gone  to  Pretoria,  and  clearly  implies  that  the  moral 
effect  of  treating  would  be  bad.  The  phrasing  also  shows  that  the  so- 
called  armistice  was  for  the  purpose  of  treating,  and  not  the  treating 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  an  armistice  :  in  other  words,  that  the 
armistice  would  expire,  and  not  commence,  with  the  treating. 

From  the  evidence  given  by  the  cyclist  Kowland,  it  appears  that  he 
stated  to  Dr.  Jameson  that  he  could  get  2,000*  armed  men  to  go  out  to 
his  assistance ;  and  Bowland  in  evidence  alleged  further  that  there 
was  some  ofier  of  assistance  in  one  of  the  despatches,  and  that 
Dr.  Jameson,  in  reply,  said  he  did  not  need  any  assistance,  but  that  if 

1  July,  1899.  2  Colonel  Francis  Rhodes.  ^  Lionel  Phillips. 

•*  (July,  1899.)  In  Colonel  Rhodes's  letter  the  figures  '2,000  '  are  deleted 
after  the  word  'armed.'  Is  it  not  probable  that  these  deleted  figures  may 
account  for  some  of  the  talk  about  2,000  armed  men  ? 


THE  INVASION  U3 

2,000  men  should  come  out  probably  the  Boers  would  draw  off.  This 
witness  in  his  evidence  at  Bow  Street  also  alleged  that  one  of  the 
despatches  expressed  surprise  at  Dr.  Jameson's  movement.  There  is 
now  a  complete  record  of  these  despatches.  They  make  no  allusions 
to  giving  assistance,  and  the  Johannesburg  leaders  are  very  clear  on 
the  point  that  no  promise  or  offer  of  assistance  was  ever  made.  The 
reply  which  Dr.  Jameson  caused  to  be  sent  was  concealed  in  one  of 
the  bicycles,  which  were  seized  by  the  Boer  authorities  on  the  return 
ride  of  the  despatch-carriers,  and  was  not  brought  to  light  until  the 
following  March,  when  a  mechanic  who  was  repairing  the  broken 
bicycle  discovered  it. 

The  much-debated  question  of  whether  assistance  was  ever  promised 
or  expected  should  be  finally  disposed  of  by  the  pubhcation  of  two 
documents  which  have  not  heretofore  appealed  in  print.  They  are 
(a)  the  reply  of  Dr.  Jameson  to  Colonel  Khodes's  letters,  and  (6)  the 
report  of  Mr.  Celliers,  the  cyclist  despatch-rider  who  took  the  letter 
and  received  the  reply,  which  report  was  taken  down  in  shorthand  by 
the  clerks  in  the  Eeform  Committee  room  as  it  was  made  verbally 
by  him  immediately  on  his  return.  Both  these  records  dispose  of 
Mr.  Rowland's  statement  about  2,000  men ;  and  apart  from  this  it 
should  be  observed  that  Mr.  Celliers  was  the  messenger  sent  by  Colonel 
Ehodes  and  not  Mr.  Eowland ;  the  latter,  having  been  later  on  picked 
up  '  for  company,'  was  presumably  less  quaUfied  to  speak  about  the 
instructions  and  messages  than  Celliers,  from  whom,  indeed,  he  learned 
all  that  he  knew. 

The  letter  was  written  by  Colonel  H.  F.  "White  in  the  presence  of 
the  cyclists,  and  partly  at  the  dictation  of  Dr.  Jameson.  It  was  in  the 
form  of  a  memorandum  from  Colonel  H.  F.  White  to  Colonel  Frank 
Ehodes,  and  bore  no  signature  ;  but  the  last  line  was  in  Dr.  Jameson's 
handwriting,  and  was  initialed  by  him.    It  ran  as  foUows  : 

As  you  may  imagine,  we  are  all  well  pleased  by  your  letter.  We  have  had 
some  fighting,  and  hope  to  reach  Johannesburg  to-night,  but  of  course  it  will 
depend  on  the  amount  of  fighting  we  have.  Of  course  we  shall  be  pleased  to 
have  200  men  meet  us  at  Krugersdorp,  as  it  will  greatly  encourage  the  men, 
who  are  in  great  heart  although  a  bit  tired. 

Love  to  Sam,  Phillips,  and  rest, 

L.  S.  J. 

Mr.  Celliers'  report — after  detailing  the  incidents  of  the  ride  out — 
runs : 

...  I  reached  the  column  between  9  and  10  o'clock.  I  saw  Dr.  Jameson 
personally.  He  received  us  very  well,  and  was  very  glad  with  the  news  I 
brought  him.  He  read  the  despatch,  and  asked  me  for  full  details.  I  told 
him  the  strength  of  the  Boers  and  the  dangers  he  was  in.  I  told  him  that 
they  had  no  guns,  and  all  that  I  saw  and  heard  that  they  had  during  my 
travels.  I  explained  to  him  everything  in  detail.  The  Doctor  seemed  to  be 
very  brave.     He  told  me  that  he  had  two  scrimmages,  and  that  no  damage 


144  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITH^ 

had  been  done.  I  said  to  him  whether  it  would  not  be  well  for  him  to  halt 
until  we  got  through  and  sent  him  some  help.  The  Doctor  said  he  did  not 
think  there  was  anything  to  fear,  and  at  the  same  time  he  did  not  want  to  go 
to  Johannesburg  as  a  pirate,  and  it  would  be  well  for  them  to  send  some  men 
to  meet  him.  I  also  made  inquiries  as  to  whether  I  could  return  by  any  other 
road,  but  found  it  was  impossible,  and  that  we  had  to  come  back  the  same 
Avay.  I  got  his  despatch,  shook  hands  with  him,  wished  us  well,  and  set  on 
our  journey  back. 

The  report,  which  is  given  above  literally  as  transcribed  from  the 
shorthand  notes,  concludes  with  an  account  of  the  return  journey. 
Mr.  Celliers  in  a  subsequent  statement  confirmed  the  above,  and 
added : 

The  impression  which  the  Doctor  gave  me  most  certainly  was  that  he  had 
never  expected  help,  and  did  not  want  it.^ 

The  march  continued  on  towards  Krugersdorp.  At  one  or  two  places 
a  few  shots  were  fired  by  Boer  pickets,  and  on  one  occasion  the  Maxims 
of  the  invading  force  were  turned  on  a  party  of  some  fifty  Boers 
ensconced  in  a  good  position.  No  casualties,  however,  occurred  until 
Krugersdorp  was  reached  at  3  p.m.  on  Wednesday.  A  message  was 
sent  by  Sir  John  Willoughby  to  the  authorities  at  Krugersdorp  that  if 
he  encountered  any  opposition  he  would  shell  the  town,  and  he  warned 
them  to  have  their  women  and  children  removed. 

Shortly  after  mid- day  positions  were  taken  up  on  the  hills  near 
Krugersdorp,  and  at  three  o'clock  severe  fighting  took  place,  which 
lasted  well  on  into  the  night.  An  ambush  at  the  crushing-mill  and 
works  of  the  Queen's  Mine  was  shelled,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to 
storm  it  by  a  small  party  of  the  invaders.  It  was  unsuccessful,  how- 
ever, and  after  nightfall  Dr.  Jameson's  force  was  obliged  to  retreat 
from  its  position  and  seek  a  more  advantageous  one  on  higher  ground. 

They  had  suffered  a  reverse  at  the  hands  of  a  somewhat  larger  force 
of  Boers  who  had  selected  a  very  strong  position.  Firing  did  not  cease 
mitil  11  p.m.  Here  it  is  alleged  the  fatal  military  mistake  of  the 
expedition  was  committed.  No  precautions  had  been  taken  to  ascertain 
the  road.  Instead  of  being  well  acquainted  with  the  direction  to  be 
taken,  the  force  was  dependent  upon  a  guide  picked  up  on  the  spot,  a 
man  who  was  never  seen  after  the  events  of  the  following  day,  and  is 
freely  alleged  to  have  been  a  Boer  agent.  It  is  stated  by  competent 
judges  that,  had  Dr.  Jameson's  force  pushed  on  during  the  night  on 

^  After  the  arrival  in  England  of  the  officers  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force,  a 
report  dealing  with  the  military  aspect  of  the  expedition  was  sent  by  Sir 
John  Willoughby  to  the  War  Office.  It  has  been  printed  and — to  a  certain 
extent — circulated,  and  cannot  therefore  be  regarded  as  private.  But  apart 
from  this  it  is  a  document  so  peculiar — so  marked  by  mishandling  of 
notorious  facts — that  it  deserves  no  consideration  other  than  it  may  earn  on 
its  merits.  It  is  printed  in  extenso  with  notes  by  a  member  of  the  Reform 
Committee.     See  Appendix  H. 


THE  INVASION  145 

the  main  road  to  Johannesburg,  they  would  have  succeeded  in  reachin^ 
that  town  without  difficulty.  As  it  was,  however,  they  camped  for  the 
niglit  in  the  direction  of  Eandfontein  and  in  the  early  morning  struck 
away  south,  attempting  a  big  detour  to  avoid  the  road  which  they  had 
tried  to  force  the  previous  night.  There  is  but  httle  doubt  that  they 
were  shepherded  into  the  position  m  which  they  were  called  upon  to 
fight  at  Doornkop.  The  following  description  of  the  Doornkop  fight 
was  written  by  Captain  Frank  Younghusband,  the  correspondent  of 
the  London  Times,  who  was  an  eye-witness  : 

Galloping  over  the  rolling  open  grassy  downs  in  search  of  Dr.  Jameson's 
force,  which  was  expected  to  arrive  at  Johannesburg  at  any  moment,  my  com- 
panion Heygate  and  myself  saw  between  us  two  forces,  both  stationary. 
Then  one  began  to  move  away,  and  from  the  regularity  of  its  movement  we 
recognised  that  this  must  be  Dr.  Jameson's  trying  to  round  the  opposing 
Boer  forces.  We  found  a  Boer  guard  holding  the  only  ford  across  the  stream  ; 
so  going  up  to  the  Commander,  we  asked  for  news.  He,  after  questioning  us, 
told  us  all  that  had  occurred. 

He  was  a  Field-cornet  from  Potchefstroom,  and  leader  of  one  division  of  the 
Boers.  He  said  that  yesterday,  January  1,  Dr.  Jameson  had  attacked  the 
Boer  force  at  the  George  and  May  Mine,  two  miles  north-west  of  Krugersdorp, 
a  small  mining  township  twenty-oue  miles  west  of  Johannesburg.  Fighting 
took  place  from  three  in  the  afternoon  to  eleven  at  night.  Dr.  Jameson 
making  three  principal  attacks,  and  doing  great  damage  with  his  artillery, 
which  the  Boers,  having  then  no  gims,  were  unable  to  reply  to. 

My  informant,  the  Boer  leader,  said  that  both  then  and  to-day  Dr.  Jame- 
son's men  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  and  he  also  said  that  admirable 
arrangements  had  been  made  at  Krugersdorp  for  nursing  the  wounded  on 
both  sides. 

This  morning  the  Boers  took  up  a  position  at  Vlakfonteiu,  eight  miles  on 
the  Johannesburg  side  of  Krugersdorp,  on  a  circuitous  road  to  the  south  by 
which  Dr.  Jameson  was  marching.  The  Boers  in  the  niglit  had  been  rein- 
forced by  men  and  with  artillery  and  Maxims.  Their  position  was  an 
exceedingly  strong  one  on  an  open  slope,  but  along  a  ridge  of  rocks  cropping 
out  of  it.  It  was  a  right-angled  position,  and  Dr.  Jameson  attacked  them  in 
the  re-entering  angle,  thus  having  fire  on  his  front  and  flank. 

To  attack  this  position  his  men  had*  to  advance  over  a  perfectly  open 
gently-sloping  grassy  down,  while  the  Boers  lay  hid  behind  rocks  and  fired 
with  rifles,  Maxims,  and  artillery  upon  their  assailants.  The  Boers  numbered 
from  1,200  to  1,500,  Dr.  Jameson's  force  about  500,  and  the  position  was 
practically  unassailable. 

Dr.  Jameson,  after  making  a  desperate  eff"ort  to  get  through,  surrendered, 
and  as  we  stood  we  saw  his  brave  little  band  riding  dejectedly  back  again  to 
Krugersdorp  without  their  arms  and  surrounded  by  a  Boer  escort. 

We  were  allowed  to  ride  close  up,  but  were  refused  permission  to  see 
Dr.  Jameson.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to  state  his  full  reasons,  but  it  is 
known  that  he  was  made  aware  that  it  was  impossible  to  send  assistance  from 
here,  and  this  may  have  influenced  him  in  giving  up  the  contest  when  he 
found  the  enemy's  position  so  strong  that  in  any  case  it  would  have  been  no 
disgrace  to  have  been  beaten  by  superior  numbers  of  such  a  brave  foe  as  that 
Boer  force  which  I  saw  in  the  very  position  they  had  fought  in.  It  was 
evident  that  probably  no  one  had  ever  started  on  a  more  desperate  venture 
than  had  this  daring  little  force,  and  tliey  gained  by  their  gallantry  the 

10 


146  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

adoration  not  only  of  the  Boer  burghers  who  spoke  to  me,  but  of  the  whole 
town  of  Johannesburg. 

These  Boers — rough,  simple  men,  dressed  in  ordinary  civilian  clothes,  witli 
merely  a  rifle  slung  over  the  shoulder  to  show  they  Avere  soldiers — spoke  in 
feeling  terms  of  the  splendid  bravery  shown  by  their  assailants.  They  were 
perfectly  calm,  and  spoke  without  any  boastfulness  in  a  self-reliant  way. 
They  said,  pointing  to  the  ground,  that  the  thing  was  impossible,  and  hence 
the  present  result. 

The  total  loss  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force  is  about  twenty.  Major  Grey  was, 
they  said,  the  principal  military  officer,  and  they  thought  that  no  officer  was 
killed,  and  that  the  report  that  Sir  John  Willoughby  had  been  killed  was 
unfounded.     He  and  Dr.  Jameson  have  been  taken  to  Pretoria. 

At  9.15  o'clock  the  white  flag  was  put  up.  Sir  J.  Willoughby,  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  force,  then  sent  the  following  note  addressed 
to  the  Commandant  of  the  Transvaal  Forces : 

We  surrender,  provided  that  you  guarantee  us  safe  conduct  out  of  the 
country  for  every  member  of  the  force. 

John  C.  Willoughby. 

A  reply  was  sent  within  fifteen  minutes,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
literal  translation : 

Officer, — Please  take  note  that  I  shall  immediately  assemble  our  officers 
to  decide  upon  your  communication. 

COMMAKDANT. 

Twenty  or  thirty  minutes  later  a  second  note  was  received  by  the 
surrendering  force,  addressed  '  John  C.  Willoughby  ' : 

I  acknowledge  your  letter.  The  answer  is  that,  if  you  will  undertake  ,to 
pay  the  expense  which  you  have  caused  the  South  African  Republic,  and  if 
you  Avill  surrender  with  your  arms,  then  I  shall  spare  the  lives  of  you  and 
yours.     Please  send  me  a  reply  to  this  within  thirty  minutes. 

P.  A.  Cronje, 

Commandant,  Potchefstroom. 

Within  fifteen  minutes  of  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Sir  J.  Willoughby 
rephed,  accepting  the  conditions  in  the  following  terms  : 

I  accept  the  terms  on  the  guarantee  that  the  lives  of  all  will  be  spared.  I 
now  await  your  instructions  as  to  how  and  where  we  are  to  lay  down  our  arms. 
At  the  same  time  I  would  ask  you  to  remember  that  my  men  have  been  with- 
out food  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours. 

'  The  flag  sent  with  the  first  message  (to  quote  the  statement  made 
on  behalf  of  Sir  J.  Willoughby  by  his  solicitor,  Mr.  B.  F.  Hawksley) 
was  sent  perhaps  a  little  earlier  than  9.15.  Dr.  Jameson's  force  ceased 
firing  as  soon  as  the  flag  was  hoisted,  except  on  the  extreme  right. 
Messengers  were  sent  to  stop  that  firing,  and  all  firing  ceased  within 
five  minutes.  The  Boers  continued  to  fire  for  some  ten  minutes,  and 
for  some  time  after  Jameson's  force  had  ceased.  After  Sir  J.  Willoughby 
had  received  the  first  answer,  the  State  Artillery  opened  fire  and  con- 
tinued firing  for   at  least  fifteen  minutes.     Sir  J.  Willoughby  sent 


THE,  INVASION  147 

Colonel  the  Hon.  H.  White  and  Captain  Grenfell  to  the  Commandant 
with  a  note  requesting  to  know  the  reason  for  firing  on  a  flag  of  truce, 
and  requesting  that  it  might  cease.  Sir  J.  Willoughby  has  no  copy  of 
the  letter  he  wrote  accepting  the  conditions  offered  by  Cronje,  but  it 
was  to  the  effect  above  given.  'Besides  Cronje,  Commandant  Malan 
was  acquainted  with  the  terms  of  surrender,  for  after  Jameson's  force 
had  given  uj)  their  arms  Commandant  Malan  came  up  and  repudiated 
part  of  the  terms,  saying  he  would  not  guarantee  the  lives  of  Jameson 
and  the  leaders,  and  that  they  would  be  handed  over  to  General 
Joubert,  who  would  decide  their  fate.' 

The  decision  having  been  announced  to  the  forces,  and  many  of  the 
men  having  stacked  their  arms  and  dropped  off  to  sleep  where  they  lay 
in  the  veldt,  several  other  commandants  joined  Cronje,  and  an  alterca- 
tion took  place  in  the  presence  of  the  surrendered  officers,  Commandant 
Malan  of  Eustenburg  violently  proclaiming  that  Cronje  had  no  right 
to  spare  the  hves  of  the  force,  and  that  it  lay  with  the  Commandant- 
General  and  Krijgsraad  (or  War  Council)  to  decide  what  should  be 
done  with  the  prisoners.  Commandant  Cronje  repUed  that  they  had 
surrendered  to  him  upon  certain  conditions,  and  those  conditions  had 
been  accepted  by  him.  In  the  course  of  the  discussion,  in  which 
several  other  prominent  Boers  joined,  disapproval  was  generally 
expressed  of  Cronje's  acceptance  of  the  terms,  and  threats  were  used 
to  Dr.  Jameson  in  person.  Eye-witnesses  on  the  Boer  side  state  that 
Dr.  Jameson  declined  to  discuss  the  matter  further ;  he  merely  bowed 
and  walked  away.  It  may  be  remarked  that  it  is  not  by  any  means 
unusual  for  the  Boers  to  seek  to  stretch  to  their  advantage  terms  which 
they  have  previously  agreed  upon.  There  can  now  be  no  question  as 
to  the  conditions  of  the  surrender.  The  officer  in  command  on  the 
field  agreed  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  entire  force,  and  it  was  not  com- 
petent for  anyone  to  reverse  that  decision  or  to  reopen  the  question. 
The  incident  is  instructive  and  also  important,  since  the  lives  of 
Dr.  Jameson  and  his  men  were  made  to  play  a  considerable  part  in 
President  Kruger's  game  of  magnanimity  later  on.i 

^  See  Appendix  G.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  his  declarations  Commandant 
Cronje  modifies  his  terms  very  considerably.  It  was  impossible  for  any 
reasonable  person  to  accept  the  explanation  preferred  by  him,  that  the 
promise  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  surrendered  force  was  only  to  hold  good  until 
they  could  be  handed  over  to  the  Commandant-General.  In  fact,  it  is  well 
known  that  Commandant  Cronj^  only  took  up  this  attitude  after  an  extremely 
acrimonious  discussion  had  taken  place  between  him  and  Commandant 
Malan — a  quarrel  in  which  they  went  the  length  of  making  charges  against 
each  other  in  the  public  press  of  treachery  and  neglect  of  duty  whilst  in  the 
field.  The  Commandant  Cronje  referred  to  here  is  the  same  gentleman  who 
commanded  the  Boer  forces  at  Potchefstroom  in  the  War  of  Independence, 
and  his  record  is  an  extremely  unpleasant  one,  his  conduct  of  operations 
having  earned  for  the  Potchefstroom  commando  the  worst  reputation  of  any. 
Apart  from  the  execution  of  several  British  subjects  who  were  suspected  and, 

10—2 


148  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  Johannesburg  Star  correspondent,  describing  the  surrender, 
says . 

There  were  upwards  of  400  altogether,  and  the  poor  fellows  made  a  sorry 
sight — tired  from  their  long  march,  their  privations,  and  the  tremendous 
strain  of  continuous  engagements  for  nearly  twenty-four  hours.  Some  almost 
slept  in  their  saddles  as  they  were  being  escorted  ;  and  when  they  arrived  on 
Krugersdorp  Market  Square  the  scene  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 

The  Boers  freely  mixed  with  them  and  talked  with  them.  Provisions  were 
brought,  and  devoured  with  ravenous  hunger.  In  many  cases  the  Boers  gave 
from  their  own  scant  stock  of  provisions  to  the  starving  men,  for  whom  they 
expressed  the  utmost  admiration  for  their  pluckiness  and  determination. 

Dr.  Jameson  and  his  principal  officers,  including  Sir  John  Willoughby, 
v/ere  brought  in  separately  from  the  main  body  of  the  captured  troops. 
Although  the  Boers  treated  most  of  the  prisoners  with  consideration,  they 
jeered  somewhat  when  Dr.  Jameson  was  brought  forward  ;  but  this  was 
promptly  suppressed  by  the  Commandants.  Dr.  Jameson  and  the  officers 
were  temporarily  housed  in  the  Court-house,  together  with  the  other  officers 
captured  previously. 

A  mule-waggon  was  brought  up,  fitted  with  mattresses.  The  chief  officers 
were  desjjatched  to  Pretoria  under  a  strong  escort  of  Boers.  About  half  an 
hour  later  the  rest  of  the  prisoners  were  also  escorted  out  of  the  town  to 
Pretoria,  most  of  them  on  their  own  horses.  Both  men  and  horses  were 
extremely  emaciated. 

The.  burgher  losses  were  reported  to  have  been  4  killed  and 
5  wounded.  The  losses  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force  were  18  killed  and 
about  40  wounded. 

There  were  also  taken:  400  magazine  and  Lee-Metford  rifles, 
8  Maxhns  (one  spiked,  or  with  the  breach-piece  gone),  4  field-pieces, 
33,000  rifle   cartridges,   10   cases   of   Maxim   cartridges,  10   cases  of 


on  wholly  insufficient  grounds,  summarily  shot  as  spies,  there  are  the  un- 
pleasant facts  thafhe  caused  prisoners  of  war  to  be  placed  in  the  forefront  of  the 
besieging  operations  and  compelled  them  to  work  in  the  trenches  in  exposed 
positions  so  that  they  should  be — and  actually  were — shot  by  their  own 
comrades.  There  was  also  the  incident  in  which  he  refused  to  allow  one  or 
two  of  the  ladies  who  were  among  the  beleaguered  garrison,  and  who  were 
then  in  extremely  bad  health,  to  leave  the  fort  to  obtain  such  food  and 
medical  attendance  as  would  enable  them  to  live.  One  of  the  ladies  died  in 
consequence.  But  the  incident  which  has  more  bearing  on  Jameson's  surrender 
than  any  other  is  that  connected  with  the  armistice,  when  Commandant 
Cronje,  in  defiance  of  treaty  obligations,  withheld  from  Colonel  Winslow  and 
the  besieged  garrison  the  news  that  an  armistice  had  been  arranged  between 
the  Boer  and  British  forces,  and  continued  the  siege  until  the  garrison,  in 
order  to  save  the  lives  of  the  wounded  and  the  women  and  children  refugees, 
were  obliged  to  surrender.  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  incident  was  too 
much  even  for  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  that  on  its  becoming  known  after  the 
terms  of  peace  had  been  settled,  the  Transvaal  Government  were  required  by 
Sir  Evelyn  Wood  to  allow  a  British  force  to  march  up  from  Natal  and 
re-occupy  Potchefstroom  as  a  fonnal  acknowledgment  of  Cronje's  treachery. 
Mr.  Kruger  and  his  party,  who  were  in  the  greatest  fear  that  the  settlement 
would  not  be  effected,  and  that  Sir  Evelyn  Wood's  action  might  provoke  a 
renewal  of  hostilities,  agreed  to  the  terms,  but  with  grave  apprehensions  as  to 
the  results.    However,  no  corUreiem^s  occurred. 


THE  INVASION  149 

projectiles,  2  sacks  of  projectiles,  300  cartridge-belts,  13  revolvers, 
4  mule -waggons,  5  Scotch  carts,  742  horses  (in  which  were  included 
the  250  horses  which  were  captured  in  charge  of  two  troopers  near 
Blaaubank),  a  full-blooded  stallion  (the  property  of  Dr.  Jameson), 
400  saddles,  bridles,  etc.,  38  mules  with  harness,  1  telegraph  instrument 
(probably  to  tap  wires  with),  harness,  and  other  accoutrements  and 
instruments  of  war. 

The  prisoners  were  treated  with  every  consideration  by  their  captors, 
with  the  exception  perhaps  of  Dr.  Jameson  himself,  who  was  threatened 
by  some  of  the  unruly  ones  and  freely  hissed  and  hooted,  but  was  pro- 
tected by  the  officers  in  charge.  It  must  be  said  of  the  Boers  that  they 
acted  with  admirable  self-restraint  and  dignity  in  a  position  such  as 
very  few  are  called  upon  to  face.  However  politic  their  actions  may 
have  been  in  their  fear  of  provoking  conflict  with  Johannesburg  and 
the  Imperial  Government,  however  the  juggling  with  Dr.  Jameson's 
life  afterwards  and  the  spurious  magnanimity  so  freely  advertised 
may  detract  from  what  they  did,  and  may  tend  to  bring  ridicule  and 
suspicion  upon  them,  one  cannot  review  the  broad  facts  of  the 
Jameson  invasion,  and  realize  a  position  which,  if  only  for  the  moment, 
gave  the  aggrieved  party  imlimited  scope  for  revenge  upon  an  aggressor 
who  had  not  the  semblance  of  personal  wrong  or  interest  nor  the 
pretext  of  duty  to  justify  his  action,  without  allowing  to  the  Boers  that 
they  behaved  in  such  a  manner  as,  for  a  time,  to  silence  even  that 
criticism  which  is  logically  justifiable  and  ultimately  imperative.  In 
so  far  as  the  invading  force  are  concerned,  the  words  of  Mr.  A.  J. 
Balfour  aptly  sum  up  the  position :  *  President  Kruger  has  shown 
himself  to  possess  a  generosity  which  is  not  the  less  to  be  admired 
because  it  is  coincident  with  the  highest  political  wisdom.' 

"With  reference  to  the  surrender  of  the  force,  it  is  reasonable  to 
believe  that  the  Transvaal  Government,  knowing  how  serious  the 
complications  would  be  if  civil  war  actually  took  place,  and  believing 
as  they  undoubtedly  did  that  Johannesburg  contained  upwards  of 
20,000  armed  men,  were  quite  willing— indeed  anxious— to  secure  the 
surrender  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force  on  any  terms,  and  that  the  conditions 
made  by  Cronje  were  quite  in  accordance  with  what  the  highest  Boer 
authorities  would  have  accepted.  It  seems  to  be  beyond  question  also 
that  the  conditions  of  surrender  were  purposely  suppressed  in  order  to 
enable  the  President  to  bargain  with  Johannesburg ;  and,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  such  action  materially  detracted  from  the  credit 
due  to  the  Transvaal  Government.  This  is  their  characteristic 
diplomacy — the  fruit  of  generations  of  sharpening  wits  against  savages ; 
and  the  same  is  called  Kaffir  cunning,  and  is  not  understood  at  first  by 
European  people.  But  when  all  such  considerations  are  weighed, 
there  is  still  a  large  balance  of  credit  due  to  the  Boers  for  the  manner 
in  which  they  treated  Dr.   Jameson  and  his  invading  force.     It  is 


150  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

difficult  to  conceive  of  any  people  behaving  better  to  a  foe  vanquished 
under  such  conditions  ;  indeed,  it  would  be  quite  impossible. 

The  Boers  when  under  control  of  their  leaders  have  generally 
behaved  in  an  admirable  manner.  It  is  only  when  the  individuals, 
unrestrained  by  those  in  authority,  are  left  to  exercise  their  power 
at  the  dictates  of  their  own  uncurbed  passions  that  the  horrible 
scenes  have  occurred  which  have  undoubtedly  blemished  their  repu- 
tation. 

In  connection  with  the  Jameson  raid  there  was  one  such  incident — 
the  shooting  of  Trooper  Black.  The  unfortunate  man  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Boers  while  out  scouting,  and  was  taken  as  a  prisoner  to 
a  farmhouse  near  Blaaubank.  There  he  was  tied  up  and  beaten,  and 
it  is  stated  by  a  woman  who  gave  him  water  when  he  was  half  mad 
with  thirst,  that  his  face  had  been  smashed  by  a  blow  from  a  rifle  butt. 
When  unable  to  bear  the  treatment  any  longer  Black  stood  up  and, 
tearing  his  shirt  open,  cried  out,  '  Don't  shoot  me  in  the  back  I  Shoot 
here  1  My  heart's  in  the  right  place.'  He  was  then  untied  and  (as 
alleged  by  Dutch  witnesses)  given  an  opportunity  to  escape.  He 
mounted  his  horse,  but  before  he  had  gone  far  was  shot  dead.  On  the 
appeal  of  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  the  Government  consented  to  investigate 
the  matter;  but  the  Commandant  in  charge,  Piet  Grobler,  when 
questioned  on  the  subject,  merely  replied,  '  Oh,  he  [Black]  was  a  very 
insolent  fellow.  We  could  do  nothing  with  him.'  The  man  who  fired 
the  shot  despatching  Black,  a  half-caste  Boer  named  Oraham,  stated 
on  his  return  from  Pretoria  that  he  was  asked  no  questions  at  the  so- 
called  inquiry. 

A  somewhat  similar  incident  took  place,  but  fortunately  with  less 
serious  results,  on  the  way  from  the  battle  of  lirugersdorp.  A  well- 
known  resident  of  Johannesburg  had  ridden  out  to  ascertain  news  of 
Dr.  Jameson,  and,  arriving  as  the  surrender  took  place,  thrust  his  way 
among  the  Boers  until  he  reached  the  Doctor,  where  he  was  arrested 
by  the  Boer  authorities  as  a  spy.  Being  a  burgher  of  the  State  who 
had  been  resident  in  the  Transvaal  for  some  sixteen  or  seventeen  years, 
he  was  recognized  and  rather  harshly  treated.  He  was  attached  by  a 
leather  throng  to  the  saddle  of  one  of  the  Boer  Commandants  and 
made  to  run,  keeping  pace  with  the  horse.  After  a  spell  of  this  treat- 
ment he  was  released,  and  the  Commandant  in  question  offered  to 
make  a  bet  with  him  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  race  him  on  horse- 
back to  the  ambulance  waggons  a  few  hundred  yards  off,  the  prisoner 
to  take  a  short  cut  across  a  swamp  and  the  Commandant  to  ride  round 
by  the  road.  The  prisoner  thereupon  replied,  '  No,  thank  you.  Com- 
mandant. I  was  in  the  Boer  War  myself  and  saw  several  men  shot 
by  that  dodge,  on  the  pretence  that  they  were  escaping.'  The  worthy 
Commandant  thereupon  drew  his  stirrup  from  the  saddle,  and  thrashed 
his  prisoner  with  the  stirrup  end.    After  some  ten  days'  imprisonment 


THE  INVASION  151 

under  exceptionally  hard  conditions  the  gentleman  in  question  was 
released  without  trial. 

The  complete  success  of  the  Boer  forces  against  Dr.  Jameson's  band 
has  been  accounted  for  in  many  ways,  but  undoubtedly  the  one  reason, 
if  one  can  be  selected,  which  enabled  them  to  deal  with  the  invaders, 
was  their  ability  to  mobilize  at  short  notice.  And  in  this  connection 
arises  the  question :  Did  the  Boers  know  beforehand  of  the  intended 
invasion,  and  were  they  waiting  until  Dr.  Jameson  should  walk  into 
the  trap  ?  On  behalf  of  the  Boers  it  is  strenuously  maintained  that 
they  had  not  the  remotest  notion  of  what  was  brewing,  and  that  had 
such  an  idea  occurred  to  them  they  would  of  course  have  reported 
matters  to  the  High  Commissioner.  The  President's  unyielding  mood 
before  he  heard  of  Dr.  Jameson's  start  and  his  change  afterwards,  the 
state  of  demoralization  in  Pretoria,  the  unpreparedness  of  the  State 
Artillery,  and  the  vacillation  of  General  Joubert,  the  condition  of  alarm 
in  which  the  President  was  durmg  that  night  of  suspense  before  the 
surrender,  when  Chief  Justice  Kotze  sat  with  him  to  aid  and  cheer, 
and  when  the  old  white  horse  stood  saddled  in  the  stable  in  case 
Johannesburg  should  attack  Pretoria,  all  point  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  not  all  cut  and  dried.  With  a  singular  unanimity  the  Boers 
and  their  friends  and  the  majority  of  the  Uitlanders  in  the  Transvaal 
support  this  view ;  but  there  are  on  record  certain  facts  which  are  not 
to  be  ignored.  Apart  altogether  from  the  hearsay  evidence  of  tele- 
graphists and  Boer  officials  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  who  state 
that  they  were  under  orders  from  Government  to  remain  at  their  posts 
day  and  night — that  is  to  say,  to  sleep  in  their  offices — a  fortnight 
before  the  Jameson  raid  took  place,  a  significant  piece  of  evidence  is 
that  supplied  by  the  Transvaal  Consul  in  London,  Mr.  Montagu  "White, 
who  in  a  letter  to  the  London  press  stated  that  on  December  16  he 
received  information  as  to  the  plot  against  the  independence  of  the 
Eepubhc,  and  that  he  on  that  date  cabled  fully  to  President  Kruger 
warning  him  of  what  was  in  contemplation,  and  that  the-  President 
took  the  necessary  precautions.  Now,  on  December  14  it  was 
announced  in  Pretoria  that  the  President,  being  greatly  in  need  of  a 
rest  and  change,  was  about  to  undertake  a  tour  through  the  country  to 
visit  his  faithful  burghers.  Perusal  of  the  newspapers  of  the  time 
shows  that  among  the  Uitlanders  no  significance  was  attached  to  this 
visit.  Indeed,  the  Uitlander  press  agreed  that  it  had  become  painfully 
evident  that  His  Honour  required  a  change  in  order  to  restore  his 
nervous  system.  As  nothing  can  better  represent  the  opinions  of  the 
time  than  the  current  comments  of  the  Press,  the  following  extracts 
from  the  Johannesburg  Star  are  given  : 

In  short,  His  Honour  is  developing  an  ungovernable  irritability  and  a 
tendency  to  choleric  obsessions,  when  the  word  *  Uitlander '  is  barely  men- 
tioned in  his  presence,  that  are  causing  the  greatest  concern  to  those  around 


152  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

him.  Only  on  some  such  gi-ounds  are  explicable  the  raging  exclamations  he 
is  reported  to  have  permitted  himself  to  lately  use  towards  Johannesburg  and 
the  cause  of  reform  upon  which  it  is  so  earnestly  engaged.  That  His  Honour 
should  have  been  generally  credited  with  indulging  in  unconventional  ver- 
nacular terms  concerning  the  pronouncedly  loyal  and  hearty  reception  accorded 
to  him  on  his  visit  to  the  Rand  Agricultural  Show,  seems  to  argue  a  lapse 
into  the  habits  of  his  youngest  days,  which  has  a  direct  significance  in  the 
case  of  ordinary  individuals,  and  is  known  by  a  very  familiar  name.  That 
he  should  tragically  declare  that  only  across  his  bleeding  corpse  will  the  Uit- 
lander  ever  come  into  his  own,  is  merely  the  extravagant  and  regrettable 
melodrama  of  an  overheated  mind.  The  general  desire  is  quite  averse  to 
encountering  any  stepping-stones  of  that  kind,  and  most  of  all  averse  to 
Mr.  Kruger's  taking  any  such  place.  Our  quarrel  is  with  principles  and 
systems,  and  never  yet  has  a  note  of  personal  vengeance  been  sounded  whilst 
we  have  endeavoured  to  compass  their  destruction.  It  is  quite  obvious  that 
a  little  relaxation  from  the  cares  of  State,  or  reversion  to  more  primitive 
conditions,  a  freer  communion  with  Nature — viewed  from  an  ox-waggon — 
are  eminently  desirable  to  restore  His  Honour's  shattered  nerves. — Decem- 
ber 14,  1895. 

AT  HIS  POST. 

His  Honour  the  President  has  returned  to  the  seat  of  Government.  The 
itinerary  appears  to  have  been  somewhat  prematurely  cut  short ;  but  no  one 
is  likely  to  so  ridiculously  under-estimate  the  sterling  qualities  of  His  Honour 
as  to  conceive  the  possibility  of  his  absence  when  difficulty  and  danger  im- 
peratively command  his  presence  at  the  head  of  public  affairs.  The  conclu- 
sions which  Mr.  Kruger  has  derived  from  converse  with  his  faithful  burghers 
are  likely  to  remain  buried  in  his  own  breast.  The  outward  and  ostensible 
object  of  his  recent  tour  has  been  fulfilled  in  much  the  accustomed  manner ; 
that  is  to  say,  he  has  discussed  with  apparent  interest  the  necessity  for  a  pont 
here  or  a  bridge  there ;  the  desirability  of  Government  aid  for  tree-planting, 
the  trouble  which  the  farmers  experience  in  getting  native  labour,  and  so 
forth,  and  so  on  ;  but  we  must  not  derive  from  all  this  peripatetic  fustian  the 
erroneous  impression  that  His  Honour  has  been  vacuously  fiddling  on  the  eve 
of  a  conflagration.  The  real  business  which  took  him  to  Lydenburg  and 
Middleburg  has  no  doubt  been  satisfactorily  accomplished.  Boer  sentiment 
has  been  tested  in  secret,  and  the  usual  professions  of  fervid  patriotism  and 
of  readiness  for  tai-get  practice  with  the  Uitlander  as  the  mark  have  been 
profusely  evoked.  This  sub-official  aspect  of  the  itinerary  has  been  discreetly 
veiled  in  all  the  reports  which  have  been  permitted  to  transpire,  and  the 
censorship  thereof  has  been  more  than  normally  exacting  and  severe  ;  but  we 
are  from  private  sources  left  in  no  manner  of  doubt  that  Mr.  Kruger  has  been 
canvassing  and  stimulating  the  Boers  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency,  and  has 
been  metaphorically  planting  a  war-beacon  on  every  hill.  All  scrutiny  and 
inquiry  fail  to  discover  that  he  has  uttered  one  single  word  which  can  be 
described  as  an  emollient  to  the  present  critical  situation.  He  has  pandered 
rather  to  the  worst  racial  passions  of  the  Boer,  instead  of  using  the  enormous 
responsibility  resting  upon  him  in  the  direction  of  mediation.  Old  patriarchs 
— whom  we  cannot  but  respect  and  admire  whilst  we  deplore  their  im- 
mitigable and  hopeless  rancour  against  the  cause  of  the  newcomer — have 
been  permitted,  apparently  without  rebuke,  to  show  their  wounds  to  the 
younger  and  more  malleable  generation  in  His  Honour's  presence,  and  to 
boast  of  their  readiness  to  receive  as  much  more  lead  as  they  can  conveniently 
find  room  for.  The  tour,  indeed,  has  been  a  wapenschouwing,  with  oratory 
of  the  most  dangerous  and  pernicious   type  for  its  accomp?iniment.     His 


I 


^r^m^' 


THE  INVASIOI^  153 

Honour's  contribntion  to  this  interesting  display  of  martial  ardour  has  been 
couched,  as  usual,  in  the  enigmatic  form.  He  has  spoken  another  parable. 
A  mind  so  fertile  in  image  and  in  simile  cannot  have  lost  much  of  its  wonted 
vigour.  The  one  he  has  chosen  to  employ  on  this  occasion  is  full  of  instruc- 
tion, and  is  derived,  as  Mr.  Kruger's  images  frequently  are,  from  the  arena 
of  natural  history.  When  you  want  to  kill  your  tortoise,  he  must  be  artfully 
induced  to  imprudently  protrude  his  head  beyond  his  thick  and  impregnable 
shell,  and  then  the  task  becomes  a  very  easy  one.  This  little  parable  was 
considered  good  for  use  on  more  than  one  occasion,  varied  by  the  addition 
that,  if  the  tortoise  be  up  to  the  trick,  it  is  necessary  to  sit  down  and  wait 
until  he  does  make  the  fatal  mistake.  The  only  drawback  to  our  profound 
intellectual  delight  in  the  parable  is  the  question,  'Who  will  be  the  tortoise  V 
—December  27,  1895. 

A  perusal  of  the  German  "White  Book  shows  that 

On  December  24  the  German  Consul  in  Pretoria  telegraphed  to  the  Foreign 
Office  that  '  news  from  Johannesburg  points  to  the  preparation  of  disturbances 
by  the  English  party  there,  and  the  Government  is  taking  precautionary 
measures.'  Baron  von  Marschall  communicated  this  to  Sir  Frank  Lascelles, 
and,  after  pointing  out  the  possible  consequence  of  bloodshed,  emphasized 
once  again  the  necessity  for  maintaining  the  status  quo.  In  reply  to  the 
German  Consul  in  Pretoria,  the  Secretary  of  State  telegraphed  a  similar  state- 
ment, adding :  '  Impress  energetically  upon  the  Transvaal  Government  that  it 
must  most  scrupulously  avoid  any  provocation  if  it  -wishes  to  retain  German 
S3'mpathy. ' 

Another  little  light  on  the  inside  history  is  that  afiforded  by  Mr.  J.  C. 
Bodenstein,  Field-comet  of  the  Krugersdorp  district,  who  in  the  course 
of  an  interview  accorded  to  the  Standard  and  Diggers'  News,  the 
Johannesburg  Government  organ,  stated  how  he  came  to  know  of 
Jameson's  intended  invasion.  He  heard  that  a  certain  young  lady 
who  resided  at  Luipaardsvlei,  near  Krugersdorp,  whose  fia7ice  occupied 
a  good  position  in  the  Bechuanaland  Border  Police,  had  received  a 
letter  from  him  at  Mafeking  to  the  effect  that  he  intended  paying  her 
a  visit  about  the  New  Year,  and  that  he  would  not  be  alone,  as  the 
whole  force  was  coming  to  Johannesburg.  The  lady  proved  no  excep- 
tion to  the  alleged  rule  concerning  secrets,  and  Field-cornet  Bodenstein 
personally  assured  hunself  of  the  authenticity  of  the  report  he  had 
heard. 

On  Friday,  December  27,  a  German  gentleman  from  the  Free  State 
also  informed  the  Field-cornet  that  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  troopers 
might  be  expected  at  any  time.  '  On  hearing  this  confirmation  of  the 
letter,'  said  Mr.  Bodenstein,  *  I  went  at  once  to  Pretoria.  I  arrived 
there  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  early  the  next  morning  I  saw  the 
President,  and  informed  him  about  the  letter  and  what  I  had  been 
told.  He  remarked  quietly  :  "  Yes ;  I  have  heard  all  about  it."  The 
General  (Joubert)  then  said  :  "  All  right ;  I  will  send  you  the  ammuni- 
tion you  require."  ' 

In  the  report  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  Cape  House  of  Assembly 
(Blue  Book  A  6  of  1896,  page  76)  there  is  the  evidence  of  the  Hon. 


154  THE  TRANSVAAL  FRCiM  WITHIN 

J.  A.  Faure,  M.L.O.,  which  shows  that  he  and  Sir  Thomas  Upington, 
the  Attorney-General  of  Cape  Colony,  were  on  a  visit  to  Johannesburg 
on  December  27,  and  heard  it  pubHcly  stated  that  Dr.  Jameson  with 
800  men  was  on  the  border  for  the  purpose  of  invading  the  Transvaal. 
Mr.  Faure  testifies  that  he  learned  this  from  a  very  prominent  Free 
State  Dutchman.  Among  others,  one  would  suppose  that  the  Trans- 
vaal Government  must  also  have  heard  something  of  it. 

Dr.  Veale,  a  well-known  Pretoria  doctor,  states  that  at  daybreak  on 
Thursday,  January  2,  Commandant  Hendrik  Schoeman  called  on  him 
to  secure  his  profess.ional  attendance  for  a  member  of  his  family  who 
was  very  ill.  The  Commandant  said  that  he  had  been  sent  out  on 
Monday  to  watch  the  invading  force  and  to  ascertain  their  numbers, 
and  also  stated  that  he  had  been  following  the  troop  with  others  for  a 
considerable  time,  and  that  he  was  sure  Jameson  had  not  800,  but 
between  450  and  500,  as  he  had  repeatedly  counted  them ;  that  the 
force  was  being  delayed  by  small  parties  drawing  it  into  useless  fight- 
ing and  so  losing  time ;  that  he  himself  had  been  obliged  to  come  on 
ahead,  having  been  recalled  on  account  of  his  wife's  serious  illness, 
but  that  it  made  little  difiference  as  there  were  others  to  take  his  place, 
and  they  had  arranged  not  to  tackle  Jameson  until  they  had  drawn 
him  among  the  kopjes  at  Doornkop,  where  it  would  be  quite  impossible 
for  him  ever  to  get  through.  This  statement,  it  should  be  noted,  was 
made  in  Pretoria  some  hours  before  the  Jameson  force  surrendered  at 
Doornkop. 

So  certain  do  the  Boers  appear  to  have  been,  and  so  confident,  of 
their  abihty  to  carry  out  their  plans  that  they  stated  to  a  reporter  of 
the  Government  newspaper  that  they  intended  to  stop  Jameson  at 
Bietspruit  (Doornkop),  and  this  statement  was  published  in  a  Johan- 
nesburg paper  on  the  morning  of  January  1,  but  was  of  course  regarded 
as  mere  gossip  of  a  piece  with  that  which  flooded  the  newspapers  at 
the  time.  It  is  only  right  to  add  that  there  were  numbers  of  other 
announcements  at  the  same  time  which  by  no  means  agreed  with  this 
one,  and  it  is  stated  that  the  editor  was  as  much  surprised  as  the 
pubHc  to  find  that  he  had  been  right. 

In  reviewing  the  whole  of  the  circumstances  of  the  raid,  not  the 
most  biassed  and  most  interested  of  persons  can  withhold  a  tribute  of 
admiration  to  the  President's  presence  of  mind,  skill,  and  courage  in 
dealing  with  circumstances  wholly  without  precedent;  and  in  quiet 
moments,  when  recalling  aU  that  has  happened,  if  human  at  all.  His 
Honour  must  indulge  in  a  chuckle  now  and  then  to  think  how  com- 
pletely he  jockeyed  everybody.^    Not  the  least  amusing  recollection 

^  Once  when  out  hunting  on  foot — a  young  man  then — Mr.  Kruger,  after 
climbing  to  the  top  of  a  kopje,  found  that  he  had  been  seen  by  a  number  of 
hostile  natives  who  were  then  running  towards  liim,  some  to  climb  the  hill, 
others  branching  out  to  surround  it.     He  knew  that  those  on  the  flat  could  cut 


THE  INVASION  155 

mnst  be  that  of  the  'great  trek'  (Banjailand  Trek),  which  his  burghers 
threatened  to  make  into  Mashonaland  vi4  Ehodes'  Drift,  when  Sir 
John  Willoughby  gained  his  first  experience  of  Oom  Paul.  The 
military  commander  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force  had  called  on  the  President 
to  add  weight  to  the  remonstrances  which  were  being  made  against  the 
action  of  the  burghers  in  invading  the  Chartered  territory,  and  the 
President,  playing  his  cards  for  a  favourable  settlement  of  Swaziland, 
had  replied  that  he  had  done  all  that  he  could,  and  events  must  take 
their  course.  '  Tell  him,'  said  Sir  John  to  Dr.  Leyds,  who  was  inter- 
preting, *  that  if  the  trek  is  not  stopped,  of  course  the  result  will  be 
war.'  *  If  it  must  be,  let  it  be,'  the  old  gentleman  answered  quietly. 
'  Then  tell  him,'  Sir  John  replied,  '  that  in  that  case  he  will  have  to 
reckon  with  the  British  Army.'  'And  tell  him,''  said  the  President, 
pointing  placidly  at  his  interviewer  with  his  big  pipe,  '  that  I  have 
reckoned  with  the  British  Army  once  before.'  If  the  recollection 
occurred  to  both  men  on  January  2,  it  must  have  been  with  different 
emotions. 

In  dealing  with  President  Kruger's  personal  attitude  it  is  not  perhaps 
pertinent,  but  it  is  interesting,  to  recall  an  incident  of  his  earlier  career 
— a  parallel  between  the  prisoner  and  the  President.  Oddly  enough 
President  Kruger  was  a  rebel  and  a  filibuster  himself  in  the  days  of 
his  hot  youth,  and  one  of  his  earliest  diplomatic  successes  was  in 
securing  the  release  and  pardon  of  men  who,  in  1857,  stood  in  exactly 
the  same  position  as  the  Uitlanders  whom  he  imprisoned. 

The  story  of  the  Potchefstroom  revolt  is  little  known  in  England, 
but  it  is  told  in  Theal's  '  Standard  History  of  South  Africa,'  and  very 
instructive  reading  it  is.  Dr.  Hillier,  of  Johannesburg,  one  of  the 
Eeformers,  called  attention  just  before  the  outbreak  to  the  extra- 
ordinary parallel  between  the  revolt  of  Potchefstroom  in  1857  against 
the  dominance  of  Lydenburg,  and  the  condition  of  Johannesburg  in 
1895  under  the  despotism  of  Pretoria.  Dr.  Hillier  in  his  pamphlet 
Slid: 

In  1857  the  Republic  north  of  the  Vaal  attained  its  twentieth  year.  It 
had  increased  in  population,  and  had  taken  on,  to  some  extent,  the  habits 
and  mode  of  life  of  a  settled  community.  Mr.  Pretorius  and  his  followers 
began  to  feel  that  in  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  State  the  time  had 
arrived  for  a  remodelling  of  the  Constitution.     Among  these  followers  of 

him  off  before  he  could  descend,  and  that  his  only  chance  lay  in  bluflF.  Stepping 
on  to  the  outermost  ledge  in  full  view  of  the  enemy  be  calmly  laid  down  his 
rifle,  drew  off  first  one  and  then  the  other  of  his  velsehoens  (home-made  hide 
shoes,  in  those  poorer  days  worn  without  socks),  and  after  quietly  knocking 
the  sand  out  of  them  drew  them  on  again.  By  this  time  the  natives  had 
stopped  to  observe  him.  He  then  picked  up  his  rifle  again,  and  turning  to 
an  imaginary  force  behind  the  kopje,  waved  to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left, 
as  though  directing  them  to  charge  round  each  end  of  the  hill.  The  next 
instant  the  Kaffirs  were  in  full  retreat. 


158  THE  TEANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Pretorius,  these  advocates  of  reform,  it  is  interesting  to  find  was  Mr.  Stephanua 
Johannes  Paulus  Kruger 

Mr.  Theal  says : 

'During  the  months  of  September  and  October,  1856,  Commandant- 
General  M.  W.  Pretorius  made  a  tour  through  the  districts  of  Rustenburg, 
Pretoria  and  Potchefstroom,  and  called  public  meetings  at  all  the  centres  of 
population.  At  these  meetings  there  was  an  expression  by  a  large  majority 
in  favour  of  immediate  adoption  of  a  Constitution  which  should  provide  for 
an  efficient  Government  and  an  independent  Church.' 

And  again,  later  on,  we  have  in  the  words  of  South  Africa's  historian  the 
gist  of  the  complaint  against  the  then  existing  state  of  things : 

*  The  community  of  Lydenburg  was  accused  of  attempting  to  domineer  over 
the  whole  country,  without  any  other  right  to  pre-eminence  than  that  of 
being  composed  of  the  earliest  inhabitants,  a  right  which  it  had  forfeited  by 
its  opposition  to  the  general  weal.' 

Such  was  the  shocking  state  of  things  in  this  country  in  1856.  It  was  a 
gi'eat  deal  too  bad  for  such  champion  reformers  as  Mr.  Pretorius  and  his 
lieutenant,  Mr.  S.  J.  P.  Kruger,  as  we  shall  see  later.  Shortly  after  these 
meetings  were  held,  a  Representative  Assembly,  consisting  of  twenty-four 
members,  one  for  each  Field-cornetcy,  was  elected  for  the  special  purpose  of 
framing  a  Constitution  and  installing  the  officials  whom  it  should  decide  to 
appoint. 

On  January  5,  1857,  the  representative  Assembly  appointed  Mr.  Martinus 
Wessels  Pretorius  President,  and  also  appointed  members  of  an  Executive 
Council.  The  oaths  of  office  were  then  taken,  the  President  and  Executive 
installed,  and  the  flag  hoisted.  When  intelligence  of  these  proceedings 
reached  Zoutpansberg  and  Lydenburg,  there  was  a  violent  outburst  of  in- 
dignation. At  a  public  meeting  at  Zoutpansberg  the  acts  and  resolutions  of 
the  Representative  Assembly  at  Potchefstroom  were  almost  unanimously 
repudiated,  and  a  manifesto  disowning  the  new  Constitution  and  everything 
connected  with  it  was  drawn  up.  Mr.  Pretorius  then  issued  a  proclamation, 
deposing  Commandant-General  Schoeman  from  all  authority,  declaring 
Zoutpansberg  in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  prohibiting  traders  from  supi^lying 
'  the  rebels '  with  ammunition  or  anything  else.  This  conduct  on  the  part  of 
the  new  Government  under  Mr.  Pretorius  appears  to  me  distinctly  adroit. 
Having  taken  upon  themselves  to  remodel  the  entire  Constitution  of  the 
country,  they  turn  round  on  the  adherents  of  the  older  Government,  whom, 
by-the-by,  they  had  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  consult,  and  promptly 
call  them  'rebels.'  And  so  you  have  this  striking  political  phenomenon  of 
a  revolutionary  party  turning  on  the  adherents  of  the  Government  of  the 
State,  and  denouncing  them,  forsooth,  as  'rebels.' 

The  '  Republic  of  Lydenburg '  then  declared  itself  into  a  sovereign  and 
independent  State.  And  thus  two  Republics,  two  Yolksraads,  two  Govern- 
ments were  formed  and  existed  simultaneously  in  the  Transvaal.  And  all 
this  without  a  shot  being  fired,  each  party  finding  sufficient  relief  to  its 
feelings  by  calling  the  other  party  'rebels.'  In  order  to  strengthen  its 
position,  the  party  of  Pretorius  now  determined  on  a  bold  stroke.  They  sent 
emissaries  to  endeavour  to  arrange  for  union  with  the  Free  State.  The  Free 
State  Government  rejected  their  overtures,  but  Pretorius  was  led  to  believe 
that  so  many  of  the  Free  State  burghers  were  anxious  for  this  union  that  all 
that  was  necessary  for  him  to  do,  in  order  to  eff'ect  it,  was  to  march  in  with 
an  armed  force.  He  therefore  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  commando,  and 
crossed  the  Vaal,  where  he  was  joined  by  a  certain  number  of  Free  State 
burghers. 

But  Pretonus,   with  whom  was  Paul  Kruger,  found,  like  Dr.  Jameson, 


THE  INVASION  157 

that  he  had  reckoned  without  his  host.  When  intelligence  of  this  invasion 
reached  Bloemfontein,  President  Boshoff  issued  a  proclamation  declaring 
martial  law  in  force  throughout  the  Free  State,  and  calling  out  burghers  for 
the  defence  of  the  country.  It  soon  appeared  that  the  majority  of  the  people 
were  ready  to  support  the  President,  and  from  all  quarters  men  repaired  to 
Kroonstad.  At  this  stage  the  Free  State  President  received  an  offer  of  assist- 
ance from  General  Shoeman,  of  Zoutpansberg,  against  Pretorius,  in  which 
object  he  believed  Lydenburg  would  also  join. 

On  May  25  the  two  commandoes  were  drawn  up  facing  each  other  on 
opposite  banks  of  the  Rhenoster  River,  and  remained  in  that  position  for 
three  hours.  Threatened  from  the  north  as  well  as  the  south,  Pretorius  felt 
his  chance  of  success  was  small,  and  he  therefore  sent  out  Commandant  Paul 
Kruger  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  propose  that  a  pacific  settlement  should  be  made. 

Here  indeed  is  a  very  close  parallel,  but  the  climax  is  still  to  come.  The 
treaty  arrived  at  was  practically  an  apology  on  the  part  of  the  South  African 
Republic.  Many  citizens  of  the  Free  State  who  had  joined  the  northern 
forces  moved  over  the  Yaal  after  this  event.  Those  who  remained  and.  those 
who  had  been  previously  arrested  were  brought  to  trial  for  high  treason.  One 
man  was  sentenced  to  death,  but  the  sentence  was  mitigated  subsequently  to 
a  fine  ;  others  were  fined.  These  fines  were  again  still  further  mitigated  at 
the  solicitation  of  Messrs.  Paul  Kruger  and  Steyn,  until  it  came  to  little  more 
than  a  ten- pound  note  apiece. 

There  we  have  the  story  of  President  Kruger  and  his  friends  playing 
exactly  the  part  Dr.  Jameson  and  the  Johannesburg  Eeformers  tried  to 
do.  As  Potchefstroom  rose  under  Mr.  I{jruger  against  the  oligarchal 
rule  of  Lydenburg,  so  Johannesburg  was  to  rise  against  Pretoria.  The 
Potchefstroom  Eepublic  under  Pretorius  and  Kruger  made  a  raid  a  la 
Jameson  into  the  Orange  Free  State  for  political  purposes,  to  encourage 
those  who  were  believed  to  be  anxious  to  effect  a  union.  And  just  as 
Jameson  failed  against  the  Government  of  Pretoria,  so  Pretorius  failed 
against  the  Government  of  the  Orange  Free  State.  In  1857  it  was 
Paul  Kruger,  not  Dr.  Jameson,  who  hoisted  the  white  flag.  The  Free 
Staters  who  had  tried  to  help  Kruger's  raid  were  arrested  just  as  the 
Johannesburgers  were ;  but  although  one  of  them  was  condemned  to 
death,  all  of  them  were  released,  by  the  intervention  of  Mr.  Kruger 
himself,  on  paying  a  slight  fine. 

History  has  repeated  itself  indeed ;  but  the  offence  of  Dr.  Jameson 
is  surely  less  than  that  of  Mr.  Kruger,  if  we  are  to  pay  heed  to  the 
records  of  the  Free  State  Yolksraad,  wherein  it  is  written  that  on  a 
certain  day  the  President  stated  in  open  Eaad  that  proof  had  been 
obtained  of  a  proposed  combined  attack  on  the  Free  State  by  the  Trans- 
vaal Boers,  led  by  Pretorius  and  Kruger  on  the  one  side  and  the 
Basutos  under  Moshesh  on  the  other  —  a  horrible  and  unnatural 
alliance  which  was  not  effected  only  because  Moshesh  could  not  trust 
his  professed  allies.  The  Eaad  thereupon  publicly  gave  thanks  to  the 
Almighty,  who  had  revealed  and  frustrated  this  *  hideous  complot.' 


158  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

CHAPTEE  VII 

AFTER    DOORNKOP 

The  news  of  Dr.  Jameson's  surrender  was  received  in  Johannesburg 
towards  mid-day,  at  first  with  derision,  but  as  report  after  report  came 
in,  each  confirming  and  supplementing  the  other,  no  room  for  doubt 
was  left,  and  a  scene  of  the  wildest  excitement  ensued.     It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  not  one  person  in  a  hundred,  no  matter  what  his 
political  leanings  were,  had  doubted  for   a  moment  Dr.  Jameson's 
ability  to  force  his  way  into  Johannesburg.     There  is  not  the  slightest 
indication  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time,  which  without  doubt  reflected 
every  varying  mood  and  repeated  every  rumour  which  it  was  possible 
to  catch  from  an  excited  people,  that  there  was  in  any  man's  mind  a 
suspicion  that  the  Boers  would  be  able  to  stop  the  invader.     In  the 
first  place,  no  one  believed  that  they  could  mobilize  sufficiently  quickly 
to  oppose  him,  and  in  the  second  place,  he  was  understood  to  have  a 
force  of  800  men  so  admirably  equipped  and  trained  that  it  would  not 
be  possible  for  5,000  Boers  hurriedly  called  together  to  intercept  him. 
All  this,  however,  was  forgotten  when  it  came  to  accounting  for  the 
disaster  ;  or  rather,  the  previous  convictions  only  added  strength  to  the 
rage  of  disappointment.     The  public  by  that  time  knew  of  the  letter  of 
invitation ;  it  had  been  taken  on  the  battle-field,  and  news  of  it  was 
telegraphed  in,  and  apart  from  this  the  writers  had  made  no  secret  of 
it.     But,  what  the  public  did  not  know,  and  what,  if  they  had  known 
it,  would  not  have  appealed  with  similar  force,  was  the  efforts  made  to 
stop  Jameson  and  the  practical  withdrawal  of  the  letter  before  he  had 
started.     It  was  sufficient  for  them  during  the  few  remaining  hours  of 
that  day  to  recall  that  Jameson  had  come  in,  that  he  had  fought  against 
great  odds,  and  that  when  almost  reaching  his  goal  he  had  been  taken 
prisoner  for  want  of  assistance.     It  is  perfectly  true  that  in  their  rage 
of  grief  and  disappointment  men  were  willing  to  march  out  with  pick- 
handles  to  rescue  him,  if  there  were  not  rifles  enough  to  arm  them. 
While  the  excitement  lasted  this  was  the  mood,  and  the  Eeform  Com- 
mittee were  the  scapegoats.     The  attitude  of  the  crowd  was  due  to 
ignorance  of  the  circumstances  and  natural  emotion  which  could  not 
be  otherwise  vented.     The  excitement  had  greatly  abated  by  the 
following  morning,  and  it  was  realized  then  that  the  position  was 
practically  but  Httle  worse  than  that  which  the  Eeform  Committee  had 
offered  to  take  up  when  they  tendered  their  persons  as  security  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  country  by  the  invading  force,  and  had  proposed  to 
continue  the  struggle  without  their  aid. 

The  reports  received  by  the  Johannesburg  people  were  to  the  effect 
that  the  surrender  had  been  conditional  upon  the  sparing  of  the  lives 
of  the  force.      Indeed,  the  first  reports  agreed  that  Jameson,  upon 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  159 

receipt  of  the  High  Commissioner's  proclamation,  had  laid  down  his 
arms ;  but  upon  the  return  of  Mr.  Lace  (whose  mission  has  been  ex- 
plained) it  was  realized  that  this  was  not  the  case.  A  later  account 
showed  that  Jameson  had  surrendered  to  Commandant  Cronje  on  the 
condition  that  the  lives  of  all  should  be  spared,  and  this  version  of  the 
surrender  was  published  in  the  Johannesburg  newspapers.  When 
further  accounts  were  received  from  Pretoria  and  Krugersdorp,  stating 
that  the  surrender  had  been  unconditional,  and  that  there  was  grave 
doubt  as  to  what  would  be  done  with  Dr.  Jameson,  it  was  surmised  as 
an  explanation  that  he  had  declined  to  bargain  for  his  own  life,  and 
had  merely  stipulated  that  those  of  his  followers  should  be  spared. 

On  Friday  the  news  that  it  was  contemplated  to  shood  Dr.  Jameson 
caused  a  frenzy  of  horror  and  excitement  in  the  town.  Every  effort 
was  made  by  the  Eeform  Committee  and  its  supporters  to  maintain 
strictly  the  position  which  the  Government  had  suggested  through 
their  Commission  on  Wednesday,  lest  some  untoward  incident  should 
turn  the  trembling  balance  against  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  men;  nor 
were  the  Committee  alone  in  the  desire  to  maintain  that  position.  On 
Friday  and  on  Saturday  communications  were  received  from  the  local 
Government  officials,  and  from  Commandant- General  Joubert  through 
the  British  Agent,  drawing  the  attention  of  the  Committee  to  alleged 
breaches  of  the  arrangement.  The  allegations  were  satisfactorily  dis- 
proved ;  but  the  communications  clearly  indicated  that  the  Government 
were  most  desirous  of  maintaining  the  position  in  relation  to  Johannes- 
burg which  they  had  laid  down  before  the  first  battle  with  Dr.  Jame- 
son's forces. 

Information  was  received  on  Thursday  that  the  High  Commissioner 
would  leave  Capetown  for  Pretoria  at  9  p.m.  that  night.  It  had  been 
a  matter  of  surprise  that,  the  arrangement  having  been  entered  into 
with  him  early  on  Wednesday,  he  had  not  found  it  convenient  to  start 
for  some  thirty-six  hours.  Considering  how  seriously  he  had  interfered 
with  the  movement — first  by  his  proclamation,  and  next  by  concerted 
action  with  the  Government  for  a  peaceful  settlement — it  had  been 
naturally  assumed  that  he  would  not  lose  a  moment  in  leaving  Cape- 
town for  the  scene  of  trouble.     Such,  however,  was  not  the  case. 

It  has  been  alleged  that  the  arrangement  made  between  the  Trans- 
vaal Government  and  the  High  Commissioner  with  a  view  to  a  peaceful 
settlement  bore  only  upon  Dr.  Jameson's  action,  and  that  it  was  not 
contemplated  that  there  should  be  any  interference  between  the 
Government  and  its  own  subjects  in  Johannesburg.  In  answer  to  this 
it  may  be  noted  that  the  High  Commissioner  had  in  the  first  place 
offered  his  services,  and  that  those  services  had  been  declined  by  the 
Transvaal  Government ;  but  that  the  latter,  on  realizing  the  serious- 
ness of  the  position  which  they  were  called  upon  to  face,  and  acting,  it 
is  stated,  upon  the  advice  of  Mr.  J.  H,  Hofmeyr,  the  recognised  leader 


160  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

of  the  Dutch  Africanders  m  the  Cape  Colony,  reconsidered  this  refusal 
and  urgently  besought  the  High  Commissioner  to  go  up  to  Pretoria  and 
use  his  influence  to  effect  a  peaceful  settlement.  This  arrangement, 
together  with  the  promise  of  the  redress  of  grievances,  had  been  made 
known  to  the  deputation  of  the  Eeform  Committee  by  the  Government 
Commission  in  Pretoria,  as  has  already  been  stated — the  Government 
well  knowing  that  Johannesburg  was  in  arms  and  a  party  to  the 
arrangement  with  Dr.  Jameson. 

Dr.  Jameson  surrendered  at  9.30  a.m.  on  Thursday.  The  High 
Commissioner  did  not  leave  Capetown  until  9  p.m.  the  same  day. 
There  had  therefore  been  ample  time  for  the  Government  to  intimate 
to  him  their  opinion  that  matters  had  been  satisfactorily  settled  and 
that  they  did  not  need  his  services  any  longer,  had  they  held  such  an 
opinion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  that  was  by  no  means  their  opinion. 
They  considered  that  they  had  yet  to  deal  with  20,000  armed  men  in 
Johannesburg,  and  that  they  had  to  do  that,  if  possible,  without  pro- 
voking a  civil  war,  which  would  inevitably  result  in  the  long-run  to 
their  disadvantage,  however  great  their  success  might  be  over  the 
Johannesburg  people  in  the  meantime.  They  not  only  allowed  the 
High  Commissioner  to  proceed  to  Pretoria  on  the  understanding 
originally  effected,  but  they  took  steps  to  remind  the  Eeform  Com- 
mittee on  several  occasions  that  they  were  expected  to  adhere  to  the 
arrangement  entered  into.  And  such  was  the  position  when  the  High 
Commissioner  arrived  on  the  night  of  Saturday,  the  4th. 

Sir  Hercules  Kobinson  proceeded  direct  to  Pretoria,  but  did  not 
transact  any  business  until  Monday,  abstaining,  in  deference  to  the 
feelings  of  the  Boers,  from  any  discussion  of  business  matters  on  the 
Sabbath.'  On  Sunday,  however,  he  received  information  from  the 
Reform  Committee  as  to  the  arrangements  entered  into  with  the 
Government.  He  was  also  informed  that  threats  had  been  made  by 
persons  who  without  doubt  were  speaking  the  mind  of  the  Government, 
that  if  any  trouble  should  take  place  with  Johannesburg,  Dr.  Jameson 
and  probably  many  of  his  comrades  would  be  shot.  It  was  not  stated 
that  the  Transvaal  Government  or  authorities  would  officially  counte- 
nance any  such  act,  or  would  authorize  it  even  as  the  result  of  a  trial ; 
but  the  statement  which  was  made  by  everyone  from  the  President 
downward  was  that,  in  the  event  of  any  fighting  in  Johannesburg,  the 
burghers  would  be  so  much  enraged  and  so  beyond  control,  that  the 
prisoners  who  had  caused  all  the  trouble  would  inevitably  be  shot.  It 
is  a  part  of  Boer  diplomacy  to  make  as  much  use  as  possible  of  every 
weapon  that  comes  to  hand  without  too  great  a  regard  for  the  decencies 
of  government  as  they  occur  to  the  minds  of  every  civilized  people, 
and  it  is  not  at  aU  unusual  to  find  the  President  proclaiming  at  one 
moment  that  some  course  must  be  taken  to  prevent  disaster,  for  the 
reason  that  he  cannpt  be  answerable  for  his  burghers  in  their  excited 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  161 

state,  and  at  another  moment  indignantly  repudiating  the  sugges- 
tion that  they  would  be  guilty  of  any  step  that  could  be  considered 
unworthy  of  the  most  civilized  of  peoples.  In  fact,  such  exhibitions 
were  repeatedly  given  by  him  at  a  later  stage  when  dealing  with  the 
lleform  prisoners. 

Before  any  communication  was  received  from  the  High  Commis- 
sioner on  Monday,  messages  had  been  received  by  the  members  of  the 
Reform  Committee  to  the  effect  that  the  laying  down  of  arms  would 
be  absolutely  necessary  to  insure  the  safety  of  Jameson  and  his  men. 
The  Reform  Committee  had  then  learnt  that  the  two  messengers  sent 
to  stop  Dr.  Jameson — Major  Heany  and  Captain  Holden — had  reached 
him,  and  had  come  in  with  him,  and  were  at  that  moment  prisoners 
^vith  him  in  Pretoria.  They  had  also  heard  of  the  reception  accorded 
to  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet's  despatch  and  the  High  Commissioner's  pro- 
clamation, so  that  it  was  abundantly  clear  that  the  incursion  had  been 
made  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  of  the  leaders,  whatever  other  reasons 
there  might  have  been  to  prompt  it.  But  the  public  who  constituted 
the  movement  were  still  under  the  impression  that  Dr.  Jameson  was  a 
very  fine  fellow,  who  had  come  in  in  a  chivalrous  manner  to  help  those 
whom  he  had  believed  to  be  in  distress.  There  was,  however,  no 
division  of  opinion  as  to  what  should  be  done ;  even  those  who  felt 
most  sore  about  the  position  in  which  they  had  been  placed  did  not 
hesitate  for  a  moment.  The  first  and  for  the  time  being  the  only 
consideration  was  the  safety  of  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  comrades. 

The  events  and  negotiations  of  the  days  preceding  the  arrest  of  the 
Reformers  have  been  the  subject  of  so  much  discussion  and  so  much 
misunderstanding,  that  it  will  be  better,  as  far  as  possible,  to  compile 
the  history  from  original  documents  or  the  published  and  properly 
authenticated  copies.  In  Blue  Book  [C.  7,933]  the  following  is 
pubHshed : 

Sir  Hercules  Robinson  {Pretoria)  to  Mr.  Chamberlain. 
{Telegraphic.    Received  1.8  a.m.,  Qth  January,  1896.) 

bth  January.  No.  3. — Arrived  here  last  night.  Position  of  affairs  very 
critical.  On  side  of  Government  of  South  African  Republic  and  of  Orange 
Free  State  there  is  a  desire  to  show  moderation,  but  Boers  show  tendency  to 
get  out  of  hand  and  to  demand  execution  of  Jameson.  I  am  told  that 
Government  of  South  African  Republic  will  demand  disarmament  of  Johannes- 
burg as  a  condition  precedent  to  negotiations.  Their  military  preparations 
are  now  practically  complete,  and  Johannesburg,  if  besieged,  could  not  hold 
out,  as  they  are  short  of  water  and  coal.  On  side  of  Johannesburg  leaders 
desire  to  be  moderate,  but  men  make  safety  of  Jameson  and  concession  of 
items  in  manifesto  issued  conditions  precedent  to  disarmament.  If  these  are 
refused,  they  assert  they  will  elect  their  own  leaders  and  fight  it  out  in  their 
own  way.  As  the  matter  now  st-ands,  I  see  great  difficulty  in  avoiding  civil 
war ;  but  I  will  do  my  best,  and  telegraph  result  of  my  official  interview 
to-morrow.     It  is  said  that  President  of  South  African  Republic  intends  to 

11 


162  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  \.ITHIN 

make  some  demands  with  respect  to  Article  No.  4  of  the  London  Convention 
on884. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  to  Sir  Hercules  Robinson. 

{Telegraphic.     January  6,  1896.) 

%ih  January.  No.  3. — It  is  reported  in  the  press  telegrams  the  President 
of  the  South  African  Republic  on  December  30  held  out  definite  hopes  that 
concessions  would  be  proposed  in  regard  to  education  and  the  francliise.  No 
overt  act  of  hostility  appears  to  have  been  committed  by  the  Johannesburg 
people  since  the  overthrow  of  Jameson.  The  statement  that  arms  and 
ammunition  are  stored  in  that  town  in  large  quantities  may  be  only  one  of 
many  boasts  without  foundation.  Under  these  circumstances,  active  measures 
against  the  town  do  not  seem  to  be  urgently  required  at  the  present  moment, 
and  I  do  hope  no  step  will  be  taken  by  the  President  of  the  South  African 
Republic  liable  to  cause  more  bloodshed  and  excite  civil  war  in  the  Republic. 

These  are  followed  in  the  same  volume  by  No.  89  : 

Sir  Hercules  Robinson  {Pretoria)  to  Mr.  Chamberlain. 

[Teleyraphie.     Received  1th  January,  1896.) 

Uh  January.  No.  2. — Met  President  South  African  Republic  and  Execu- 
tive Council  to-day.  Before  opening  proceedings,  I  expressed  on  behalf  of 
Her  Majesty's  Government  my  sincere  regret  at  the  unwarrantable  raid  made 
by  Jameson  ;  also  thanked  Government  of  South  African  Republic  for  the 
moderation  shown  under  trying  circumstances.  "With  regard  to  Johannes- 
burg, President  of  South  African  Republic  announced  decision  of  Government 
to  be  that  Johannesburg  must  lay  down  its  arms  unconditionally  as  a  precedent 
to  any  discussion  and  consideration  of  grievances.  I  endeavoured  to  obtain 
some  indication  of  the  steps  that  would  be  taken  in  the  event  of  disarmament, 
but  without  success,  it  being  intimated  that  Government  of  South  African 
Republic  had  nothing  more  to  say  on  this  subject  than  had  been  already 
embodied  in  proclamation  of  President  of  South  African  Republic.  I 
inquired  as  to  whether  any  decision  had  been  come  to  as  regards  disposal  of 
prisoners,  and  received  a  reply  in  the  negative.  President  of  South  African 
Re})ublic  said  that,  as  bis  burghers  to  the  number  of  8,000  had  been  collected, 
and  could  not  be  asked  to  remain  indefinitely,  he  must  request  a  reply,  '  Yes  ' 
or  *  No,'  to  this  ultimatum  within  twenty-four  hours.  I  have  communicated 
decision  of  South  African  Re])ublic  to  Reform  Committee  at  Johannesburg 
through  British  Agent  in  South  African  Republic. 

The  burgher  levies  are  in  such  an  excited  state  over  the  invasion  of  their 
country  that  I  believe  President  of  South  African  Republic  could  not  control 
them  except  in  the  event  of  unconditional  surrender.  I  have  privately 
recommended  them  to  accept  ultimatum.  Proclamation  of  President  of  South 
African  Republic  refers  to  promise  to  consider  all  grievances  which  are 
properly  submitted,  and  to  lay  the  same  before  the  Legislature  without  delay. 

On  January  7  Mr.  Chamberlain  replied  : 

No.  1. — I  approve  of  your  advice  to  Johannesburg.  Kruger  will  be  wise 
not  to  proceed  to  extremities  at  Johannesburg  or  elsewhere ;  otherwise  the 
evil  animosities  already  aroused  may  be  dangerously  excited. 

And  on  the  same  day  Sir  Hercules  Robinson  telegraphed : 

No.  1. — Your  telegram  of  January  6,  No.  2.  It  would  be  most  inexi)edient 
to  send  troops  to  Mafeking  at  this  moment,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest 


AFTER  DOOENKOP  163 

necessity  for  such  a  step,  as  there  is  no  danger  from  Kimberley  volunteer 
corps  or  from  Mafeking.  I  have  sent  De  Wet  with  ultimatum  this  morning  to 
Johannesburg,  and  believe  arms  will  be  laid  down  unconditionally.  I  under- 
stand in  such  case  Jameson  and  all  prisoners  will  be  handed  over  to  me. 
Prospect  now  very  hopeful  if  no  injudicious  steps  are  taken.  Please  leave 
matter  in  my  hands. 

On  Monday  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet,  acting  under  the  instructions  of  the 
High  Commissioner,  telegraphed  from  Pretoria  to  the  Keform  Com- 
mittee, Johannesburg,  informing  them  that  the  High  Commissioner 
had  seen  the  President  and  Executive  that  morning ;  that  he  had  been 
informed  that  as  a  condition  precedent  to  the  discussion  and  considera- 
tion of  grievances  the  Government  required  that  the  Johannesburg 
people  should  lay  down  their  arms,  and  that  the  Government  gave 
them  twenty-four  hours— from  4  p.m.  that  day — in  which  to  accept  or 
reject  that  ultimatum.  The  Committee  replied  that  it  would  receive 
their  earnest  consideration. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  such  a  condition  had  been  anticipated, 
the  ultimatum  was  very  unfavourably  received,  a  large  number  of 
those  present  protesting  that  the  Uitlanders  were  being  led  little  by 
little  into  a  trap,  that  the  Boers,  as  was  their  wont,  would  never  keep 
faith  with  them,  that  in  the  end  they  would  find  themselves  betrayed, 
and  that  it  would  be  better,  at  no  matter  what  cost,  to  make  a  fight  for 
it,  and  attempt  to  rescue  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  party.  The  last  sug- 
gestion was  a  mad  one,  and  after  some  consideration,  and  hearing  the 
representations  of  Sir  Sidney  Shippard  and  Mr.  Seymour  Fort,  who 
had  been  in  communication  with  the  High  Commissioner  on  the 
previous  day  in  Pretoria  and  were  used  by  him  as  imofficial  agents, 
the  matter  was  inore  calmly  considered  by  the  Committee.  It  was 
very  well  realized  that  a  struggle  between  Johannesburg  and  the  Boer 
forces  would  have  been  an  absolutely  hopeless  one  for  those  who  took 
part  in  it ;  but  there  was  a  determination  to  secure  the  objects  for  the 
attainment  of  which  the  agitation  had  been  started,  and  it  was  believed 
that  if  a  firm  stand  were  taken,  such  was  the  justice  of  the  cause  of  the 
Uitlanders,  that  the  Government  would  not  be  able  to  refuse  definite 
terms  as  to  what  reforms  they  would  introduce,  besides  assuring  the 
safety  of  Dr.  Jameson. 

AVhile  the  discussion  was  proceeding  another  telegram  was  received 
from  the  British  agent,  saying  that,  under  instructions  from  the  High 
Commissioner,  he  was  proceeding  in  person  to  Johannesburg  to  meet 
the  Eeform  Committee  and  explain  matters  to  them.  The  meeting 
took  place  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  and  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  pointed 
out  to  the  Committee  the  perilous  position  in  which  Dr.  Jameson  and 
his  comrades  were  placed,  owing  to  the  hesitation  of  the  Uitlanders  to 
accept  the  ultimatum  of  the  Government.  He  read  again  and  again 
the  following  telegram  from  the  High  Commissioner,  which  had  been 
despatched  from  Pretoria  early  that  morning  and  received  by  the 
•  li— 2 


164  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN  | 

British  Agent  in  Johannesburg  when  on  his  way  to  meet  the  Keform        j 
Committee :  ""^ 

Urgent. — You  snould  inform  the  Johannesburg  people  that  I  consider  that 
if  they  lay  down  their  arms  they  will  be  acting  loyally  and  honourably,  and 
that  if  they  do  not  comply  with  my  request  they  forfeit  all  claim  to  sympathy 
from  Her  Majesty's  Government  and  from  British  subjects  throughout  the 
world,  as  the  lives  of  Jameson  and  the  prisoners  are  now  practically  in  their 
hands. 

In  reply  to  remarks  about  grievances,  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  stated 
that  the  Uitlanders  could  not  expect  under  the  circumstances  anything 
more  favourable  than  the  discussion  and  consideration  of  the  grievances 
with  the  High  Commissioner,  as  had  been  promised,  and  added  that,  if 
there  were  any  spirit  of  reason  in  the  community  at  all,  they  would  be 
content  to  leave  their  case  in  the  hands  of  so  experienced  a  statesman 
as  Sir  Hercules  Kobinson,  a  man  whose  instinct  and  training  were 
towards  fair  and  decent  government. 

In  the  course  of  a  very  long  discussion,  Sir  Jacobus  de  "Wet  was 
asked  if  he  did  not  consider  the  Boer  Government  capable  of  an  act  of 
treachery  such  as  disarming  the  community  and  then  proceeding  to 
wreak  their  vengeance  upon  those  whom  they  might  consider  responsible 
for  the  agitation.  According  to  the  evidence  of  a  number  of  those  who 
were  present,  his  reply  was  that  '  not  a  hair  of  the  head  of  any  man  in 
Johannesburg  would  be  touched.'  The  discussion  was  resumed  at 
various  times  and  in  various  forms,  when  dififerent  groups  of  men  had 
opportunities  of  questioning  the  British  Agent  themselves.  When 
questioned  again  more  definitely  as  to  whether  this  immunity  would 
be  extended  to  the  leaders— those  who  had  signed  the  letter — Sir 
Jacobus  de  Wet  replied  again  in  the  affirmative.  To  another  member, 
who  had  asked  the  same  question  in  another  form,  he  said,  '  Not  one 
among  you  will  lose  his  personal  liberty  for  a  single  hour.  John  Bull 
would  never  allow  it.'  In  reply  to  the  remark,  *  John  Bull  has  had  to 
put  up  with  a  good  deal  in  this  country.  W^hat  do  you  mean  by 
"John  Bull"?'  he  answered,  *I  mean  the  British  Government  could 
not  possibly  allow  such  a  thing.' 

It  would  have  been  an  easy  and  no  doubt  a  proper  and  reasonable 
precaution  had  the  Beformers  insisted  upon  a  statement  in  writing  of 
the  terms  upon  which  they  laid  down  their  arms.  There  were,  how- 
ever, two  considerations  which  weighed  against  any  bargain  of  this 
sort.  The  first  was  the  overwhelming  and  paramount  consideration  of  .J 
insuring  Dr.  Jameson's  safety ;  and  the  other  was  the  belief  (not  ^ 
seriously  shaken  by  suggestions  to  the  contrary)  that  the  Government 
would  be  obliged  to  abide  by  the  spirit  of  the  terms  arranged  on 
January  1,  because  the  High  Commissioner  would  insist  upon  it  as  the 
vital  condition  under  which  he  was  endeavouring  to  effect  the  dis- 
armament of  Johannesburg.  That  Sir  Hercules  Kobinson  well  realized 
his  responsibility  to  the  Uitlander,but  found  it  inconvenient  or  im- 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  165 

possible  to  accept  it  at  a  later  stage,  is  shown  by  his  own  reports.     On 
January  7  he  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  as  follows : 

Yowr  telegram  No.  3  of  January  6.  /  need  now  only  say  thai  I  have  just 
received  a  message  from  Reform  Committee  resolving  to  comply  with  demand  of 
South  African  Ilepublic  to  lay  doum  their  arms  ;  the  people  placing  themselves 
{?  and)  their  interests  unreservedly  m  my  hands  in  the  fullest  confidence  that  I 
will  see  justice  done  to  them.  I  have  received  also  the  following  from  British 
agent,  dated  1th  January: 

Begins :  I  have  sent  the  following  telegram  to  His  Honour  the  President : 
I  have  met  the  Reform  Committee.  Am  gratified  with  the  spirit  shown  in 
the  discussion  of  the  all-important  present  position.  The  Committee  handed 
me  the  following  resolution — Begins:  The  Reform  Committee  in  Johannes- 
burg, having  seriously  considered  the  ultimatum  of  the  Government  of  the 
South  African  Republic  communicated  to  them  through  Her  Majesty's  Agent 
at  Pretoria,  in  a  telegram  dated  6th  instant,  to  the  effect  that  Johannesburg 
must  lay  down  its  arms  as  a  condition  precedent  to  a  discussion  and  considera- 
tion of  grievances,  have  unanimously  decided  to  comply  with  this  demand, 
and  have  given  instructions  to  the  citizens  "employed  by  this  Committee  for 
maintaining  good  order  to  lay  down  their  arms.  In  coining  to  this  deter- 
mination, the  Committee  rely  upon  the  Government  that  it  will  maintain  law 
and  order,  and  protect  life  and  property  in  this  town  at  this  critical  juncture. 
The  Committee  have  been  actuated  by  a  pai  amount  desire  to  do  everything 
possible  to  insure  the  safety  of  Dr.  Jamesun  and  his  men,  to  advance  the 
amicable  discussion  of  terms  of  settlement  with  the  Government,  and  to  support 
the  High  Commissioner  in  his  efforts  in  this  respect.  The  Committee  would 
draw  the  attention  of  the  Government  of  the  Republic  to  the  presence  of 
armed  burgher  forces  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this  town,  and  would 
earnestly  desire  that  these  forces  be  removed  in  order  to  avoid  all  risk  of  any 
disturbance  of  the  public  peace.  Resolution  ends.  I  wish  to  add  to  my 
above  remarks  that  I  feel  convinced  there  will  be  no  further  difficulty  in  con- 
nection with  the  laying  down  of  their  arms.  I  would  suggest  that  the 
Government  co-operate  with  the  Reform  Committee  for  a  day  or  two  for  the 
purpose  of  restoring  the  town  to  its  normal  state.  This  will  only  take  a  day 
or  two,  and  those  who  are  excited  among  the  people  will  by  that  time  have 
calmed  down,  and  the  police  can  resume  their  ordinary  duties.  The  Com- 
mittee will  co-operate  in  this  matter.  This  course  will  very  much  facilitate 
the  task  of  your  Government  if  it  meets  with  your  approval.     Ends. 

The  High  Commissioner  concluded  the  above  telegram  with  the 
following  significant  sentence : 

/  hope  now  to  he  able  to  confer  with  the  President  of  the  South  African 
Republic  and  Exeeidive  Council  as  to  prisoners  and  the  redress  of  Johannesburg 
grievances. 

On  the  8th  he  again  telegraphed  : 

Referring  to  your  telegram  of  the  7th  inst,  No.  1,  I  consider  that  so  far 
throughout  this  matter  Kruger  has  behaved  very  well.  He  suspended 
hostilities  pending  ray  arrival,  when  Johannesburg  was  at  his  mercy ;  and 
in  opposition  to  a  very  general  feeling  of  the  Executive  Council  and  of  the 
burghers  who  have  been  clamouring  for  Jameson's  life,  he  has  now  determined 
to  hand  over  Jameson  and  the  other  prisoners.  If  Jameson  had  been  tried 
here_  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  would  have  been  shot,  and  perhaps  some 
of  his  colleagues  also.     The  excitement  of  the  public  is  now  calmed  down. 


166  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

I  shall  try  to-day  to  make  arrangements  with  Kruger  as  to  taking  over  the 
prisoners,  and  /  loill  confer  with  him  as  to  redressing  the  grievances  of  the 
residents  of  Johannesburg  on  the  basis  of  your  telegram  of  the  Ath  instant.  I 
have  given  Kruger  a  copy  of  that  telegram. 

And  later  on  the  same  day  : 

Since  my  telegram,  No.  1,  of  this  morning  matters  have  not  been  going  so 
smoothly.  When  the  Executive  Council  met,  I  received  a  message  that  only 
1,814  rifles  and  three  Maxim  guns  had  been  surrendered,  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  South  African  Republic  did  not  consider  a  fullilment  of  the 
ultimatum,  and  orders  would  be  immediately  issued  to  a  commando  to  attack 
Johannesburg.  I  at  once  replied  that  the  ultimatum  required  the  surrender 
of  guns  and  ammunition  for  which  no  permit  of  importation  had  been  ob- 
tained, and  that  onus  rested  with  Transvaal  Government  to  show  that  guns 
and  ammunition  were  concealed  for  wdiich  no  permit  had  been  issued.  If 
before  this  Avas  done  any  hostile  step  were  taken  against  Johannesburg,  I 
should  consider  it  to  be  a  violation  of  the  undertaking  for  which  I  had  made  my- 
self personally  responsible  to  the  people  of  Johannesburg,  and  I  should  leave 
the  issue  in  hands  of  Her  Majesty's  Government.  This  had  a  sobering  effect, 
and  the  order  for  the  attack  on  Johannesburg  was  countermanded,  and  it  was 
arranged  that  the  Transvaal  officials  should  accompany  Her  Majesty's  Agent 
to  Johannesburg,  and  point  out  to  him  if  they  could  Avhere  arms  were  con- 
cealed. Her  Majesty's  Agent  left  at  1  p.m.  to-day  for  Johannesburg  for  this 
purpose. 

The  explanation  of  the  change,  I  take  it,  is  that  Kruger  has  great  difficul- 
ties to  contend  with  among  his  own  people.  The  apparent  object  is  to  prove 
that  people  of  Johannesburg  have  not  fulfilled  the  conditions  which  were  to 
pi'ecede  the  handing  over  of  the  prisoners  and  consideration  of  grievances.  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if,  before  releasing  the  prisoners  or  redressing  griev- 
ances, an  attempt  were  now  made  to  extort  an  alteration  of  the  London  Con- 
vention of  1884,  and  the  abrogation  of  Article  No.  4  of  that  instrument.  / 
intend,  if  I  find  that  the  Johannesburg  people  have  substantially  complied  with 
the  ultimatum,  to  insist  on  the  fulfilment  of  promises  as  regards  prisoners  and 
consideration  of  grievances,  and  will  not  allow  at  this  stage  the  introduction 
of  any  fresh  conditions  as  regards  the  London  Convention  of  1884.  Do  you 
approve  ? 

The  Eeform  Committee  published  the  following  ofl&cial  notice  on 
Tuesday  afternoon : 

The  Reform  Committee  notify  hereby  that  all  rifles  issued  for  the  defence 
of  life  and  property  in  town  and  the  mines  are  to  be  returned  at  once  to  the 
Central  Office  in  order  to  enable  the  Committee  to  carry  out  the  agreement 
with  the  Government,  upon  the  faithful  observance  of  which  so  much  is 
dependent. 

The  Committee  desire  to  make  it  known  that  late  last  night  they  received 
an  nltimation  from  Her  Majesty's  Agent  in  Pretoria  to  the  eff'ect  that  the 
decision  af  the  Government  was  that  Johannesburg  must  lay  down  its  arms  as 
a  condition  precedent  to  the  discussion  and  consideration  of  grievances. 

The  Committee  met  this  morning  to  consider  the  position,  and  it  was 
unanimously  resolved  to  accept  the  ultimatum  of  the  Government  for  reasons 
which  the  following  communications  sufficiently  explain  : 

Here  followed  the  High  Commissioner's  telegram  to  Sir  Jacobus  de 
Wet  urging  disarmament,  already  given,  and  the  following  memo- 
randum : 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  167 

Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet,  Her  Majesty's  Agent  at  Pretoria,  has  notified  to  the 
Committee  that  he  has  been  officially  informed  by  the  Government  in  Pretoria 
that  upon  Johannesburg  laying  down  its  arms  Dr.  Jameson  will  be  handed 
over  to  Her  Majesty's  High  Commissioner. 

By  Order. 
Johannesburg,  1th  January. 
The  above  is  correct. 
J.  A.  DE  Wet, 

H.B.M.  Agent. 

The  Committee  can  add  nothing  to  the  above,  and  feel  that  there  will  not 
be  one  man  among  the  thousands  who  have  joined  the  Reform  movement  who 
will  not  find  it  consistent  with  honour  and  hiimanity  to  co-operate  loyally  in 
the  carrying  out  of  the  Committee's  decision. 

By  order  of  the  Committee. 

On  "Wednesday  the  investigations  effected  by  the  Government,  v^ith 
the  aid  of  the  Reform  Committee,  established  the  fact  that  the  ulti- 
matum had  been  complied  with  ;  but  the  juggling  with  Dr.  Jameson's 
life  continued  for  some  days.  On  Thursday,  the  9th,  the  High  Com- 
missioner received  a  communication  from  the  President,  in  which 
occurred  the  following  sentence :  '  As  I  had  already  caused  your 
Excellency  to  be  informed,  it  is  really  my  intention  to  act  in  this 
sense  {i.e.,  hand  over  Dr.  Jameson  and  men),  so  that  Dr.  Jameson 
and  the  British  subjects  who  were  under  his  command  may  then  be 
punished  by  Her  Majesty's  Government,  and  I  will  make  known  to 
your  Excellency  the  final  decision  in  this  matter  as  soon  as  Johannes- 
burg shall  have  reverted  to  a  condition  of  quietness  and  order.'' 

In  the  face  of  this  and  many  other  significant  messages  and  expres- 
sions which  reached  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  he  considered  Dr.  Jameson's  life  to  be  in  peril,  and  that  he 
regarded,  as  he  distinctly  said  he  did,  disarmament  by  Johannesburg 
as  the  only  means  of  saving  him ;  but  what  is  less  pardonable  is  that 
he  did  not  pin  President  Kruger  to  this,  and  demand  an  explanation 
when  it  became  known  that  Jameson  and  his  men  were  secured  by  the 
conditions  of  the  surrender.  The  truth  is  that  the  wily  old  Boer 
President,  by  a  species  of  diplomacy  which  does  not  now  commend 
itself  to  civilized  people,  managed  to  jockey  everybody  with  whom  he 
had  any  dealings.  He  is  much  in  the  position  of  a  certain  financier 
who,  after  a  vain  effort  to  justify  his  proceedings,  turned  at  last  in 
desperation  upon  his  critics  and  said  :  '  Well,  I  don't  care  what  view 
you  hold  of  it.     You  can  liave  the  morality,  but  I've  got  the  cash.' 

Late  in  the  evening  of  the  9th  the  following  proclamation  was 
pubhshed : 

Whereas  by  resolution  of  the  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic, 
dated  Monday,  the  6th  of  January,  1896,  whereby  to  all  persons  at  Johannes- 
burg and  suburbs  twenty- four  hours  were  granted  to  hand  over  and  to  lay 
down  to  the  Government  unconditionally  all  arms  and  ammunition  for  which 
no  permit  could  be  shown,  and 


168  THE  TUAI^SVAAL  FROM  WITHIK 

Wiiereas  the  said  period  of  hventy-foar  hours  has  ah-eady  expired  on  Tues- 
day, the  7th  of  January,  1896,  and  whereas  the  so-called  Reform  Committee 
and  other  British  subjects  have  consented  and  decided  to  comply  uncon- 
ditionally with  the  resolution  of  the  Government,  and 

Whereas  sundry  persons  already  have  laid  down  their  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, and  have  handed  them  over  to  the  Government,  and 

Whereas  the  laying  down  and  giving  over  of  the  said  arms  and  ammunition 
is  still  proceeding,  and 

Whereas  it  is  desirable  and  proper  that  this  be  done  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
in  a  proper  way,  and  that  a  term  be  fixed  thereto, 

Now  I,  Stei)hanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger,  State  President  of  the  South 
African  Republic,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Executive  Council,  by 
virtue  of  Article  5  of  their  minutes,  dated  9th  January,  1896,  proclaim 
that  further  time  will  be  given  for  that  purpose  iftitil  Friday,  the  10th 
January,  1896,  at  6  p.m. 

All  persons  or  corporations  with  whom,  after  the  expiration  of  that  period, 
arms  or  ammunition  will  be  found,  for  which  no  permit  granted  by  Govern- 
ment can  be  shown,  will  be  dealt  with  accoi'ding  to  law  ;  and 

Whereas  the  laying  down  and  handing  over  of  the  said  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion should  have  been  effected  unconditionally, 

Now  I  further  proclaim  that  all  persons  who  have  already  \aid  down  and 
given  over  the  said  arms  and  ammunition,  or  who  shall  have  aone  so  before 
Friday,  the  10th  January,  1896,  at  6  p.m.,  shall  be  exempted  from  all  prose- 
cution, and  will  be  forgiven  for  the  misdeeds  that  have  taken  place  at  Johan- 
nesburg and  suburbs,  except  all  persojis  and  corporations  who  will  appear  to  be 
tlu  chief  offenders,  ringleaders,  leaders,  instigators,  and  those  who  have  caiised 
the  rehellmi  at  Johannesburg  and  suburbs. 

Such  persons  and  corporations  shall  have  to  answer  for  their  deeds  before 
the  legal  and  competent  courts  of  this  Republic. 

I  further  proclaim  that  I  will  address  the  inhabitants  of  Jobannesburg  co- 
morrow  by  a  separate  proclamation. 

God  save  Land  and  People. 
Given  ixnder  my  hand  at  the  Government  Office  at  Pretoiia  on 
this  Ninth  Day  of  January,   in  the  Year  One  Thousand 
Eight  Hundred  and  Ninety-six. 

S.  J.  P.  Kruger, 

State  President. 
C.  Van  Boeschoten, 

Acting  State  Secretary. 

The  grim,  cautious  method  of  the  President  was  never  better  illus- 
trated than  by  these  proclamations  and  the  concurrent  actions.  In  no 
part  of  his  diplomatic  career  has  he  better  stage-managed  the  business 
than  he  did  here.  To  the  world  at  large  these  addresses  commend 
themselves  no  doubt  as  reasonable  and  moderate,  and  they  establish  a 
record  which  will  always  speak  for  him  when  the  chronology  of  events 
is  lost  ;  but  the  true  worth  of  it  all  is  only  appreciated  when  one 
realizes  that  the  first  proclamation  extending  the  time  for  disarmament, 
aiid  promising  amnesty  to  all  except  the  leaders,  was  not  issued  until 
two  days  after  the  Government  had  satisfied  themselves  that  the  dis- 
armament had  been  completed,  and  that  it  was  deliberately  held  back 
until  the  police  and  burghers  were  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town  ready 


^^■<  ■ 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  169 

to  pounce  upon  the  men  with  whom  they  had  been  treating.  It  is  an 
absolute  fact  that  the  Reform  Committeemen,  who  had  offered  to 
effect  the  peaceful  settlement  seemingly  desired  by  all  parties,  who  had 
used  every  means  in  their  power  to  convince  the  Government  that 
disarming  was  being  effected  in  a  bond  fide  and  complete  manner,  and 
who  had  themselves  supplied  the  Government  in  good  faith  with  any 
documents  they  had  showing  the  number  of  guns  and  the  amount  of 
ammunition  which  had  been  at  the  disposal  of  the  Reform  Committee, 
had  not  the  remotest  suspicion  that  an  act  of  treachery  was  in  con- 
templation, nor  any  hint  that  the  Government  did  not  regard  them  as 
amnestied  by  virtue  of  the  negotiations  ;  and  it  is  a  fact  that  when  the 
proclamation  of  the  9th  was  issued  the  detectives  were  waiting  at  the 
clubs,  hotels,  and  houses  to  arrest  the  members  of  the  Reform  Com- 
mittee, and  that  the  Reformers  did  not  know  of  the  proclamation 
exempting  them  from  the  '  Forgive  and  Forget '  until  after  they  had 
been  seized. 

On  the  10th  the  address  promised  to  the  inhabitants  of  Johannesburg 
duly  appeared. 

After  reviewing  recent  events,  it  concluded  with  this  appeal : 

Now  I  address  you  with  full  confidence  1  Strengthen  the  hands  of  the 
Government,  and  work  together  with  tliem  to  make  this  Republic  a  country 
where  all  inhabitants,  so  to  say,  live  fraternally  together.  For  months  and 
months  I  have  thought  which  alterations  and  emendations  would  be  desirable 
in  the  Government  of  tins  State,  but  the  unw^arrantable  instigations,  espe- 
cially of  the  press,  have  kept  me  back.  The  same  men  who  now  appear  in 
public  as  the  leaders  have  demanded  amendments  from  me  in  a  time  and 
manner  which  they  should  not  have  dared  to  use  in  their  own  country  out  of 
fear  of  the  penal  law.  Through  this  it  was  made  impossible  for  me  and  my 
burghers,  the  founders  of  this  Republic,  to  take  your  proposals  into  considera- 
tion. It  is  my  intention  to  submit  a  draft  law  at  the  first  ordinary  session 
of  the  Volksraad,  whereby  a  municipality  with  a  Mayor  at  its  head  will  be 
appointed  for  Johannesburg,  to  whom  the  whole  municipal  government  of  this 
town  will  be  entrusted.  According  to  all  constitutional  principles,  such  a 
municipal  council  should  be  appointed  by  the  election  of  the  inhabitants.  I 
ask  you  earnestly,  with  your  hand  upon  your  heart,  to  answer  me  this  ques- 
tion :  Dare  I,  and  should  I,  after  all  that  has  happened,  propose  such  to  the 
Volksraad  ?  What  I  myself  answer  to  this  question  is,  I  know  that  there 
are  thousands  in  Johannesburg  to  whom  I  can  with  confidence  entrust  this 
right  to  vote  in  municipal  matters.  Inhabitants  of  Johannesburg,  make  it 
possible  for  the  Government  to  appear  before  the  Volksraad  with  the  motto 
'Forget  and  Forgive.' 

(Signed)        S.  J.  P.  Kruger, 

State  President. 

One  would  think  that  anyone  gifted  with  even  a  moderate  sense  of 
humour  would  have  been  restrained  by  it  from  issuing  a  second  pro- 
clamation on  top  of  the  elaborate  fooling  of  the  first.  Is  it  possible  to 
imagine  any  other  community  or  any  other  Government  in  the  world 
in  which  the  ruler  could  seriously  set  to  work  to  promulgate  two  such 


170  THE  TRANSVAAL  ,FROM  WITHIN 

proclamations,  sandwiching  as  they  did  those  acts  which  may  be 
regarded  as  the  practical  expression— diametrically  opposed  to  the 
pubLiahed  expression — of  his  intentions  ? 

In  the  meantime  the  negotiations  concerning  Dr.  Jameson  were 
dragging  on.  After  securing  the  disarmament  of  Johannesburg  and 
getting  rid  of  the  troublesome  question  of  the  disposal  of  Jameson,  and 
after  refusing  for  several  days  (to  quote  the  gist  of  the  High  Com- 
missioner's telegram,  Blue  Book,  No.  125  [0.  7,933])  to  allow  the 
necessary  arrangements  for  the  deportation  of  the  men  to  be  made, 
Mr.  Kruger  suddenly  called  upon  the  High  Commissioner  to  have 
them  removed  at  once,  intimating  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  the 
decision  of  the  Executive  that  all  the  prisoners,  except  the  Transvaal 
and  Free  State  subjects,  whom  he  would  retain,  should  be  sent  to 
England  to  be  tried  according  to  English  law.  It  was  pointed  out 
that  it  was  only  contemplated  to  send  the  officers  for  trial.  To  this 
Mr.  Kruger  replied :  '  In  such  case  the  whole  question  must  be  re- 
considered.' The  High  Commissioner  at  once  telegraphed  for  the 
decision  of  Her  Majesty's  Government,  stating  that  it  was  the  opinion 
of  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  and  Sir  Graham  Bower,  who  had  represented 
him  at  the  interview  with  the  Transvaal  Government,  that,  if  the  whole 
lot  were  not  sent  home  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  English  law,  they 
would  be  tried  in  Pretoria,  with  a  result  which  he  feared  would  be 
deplorable.     To  this  Mr.  Chamberlain  replied  : 

Astonished  that  Council  should  hesitate  to  fulfil  the  engagement  which  we 
understood  was  made  by  President  with  you,  and  confirmed  by  the  Queen,  on 
the  faith  of  which  you  secured  disarm.ament  of  Johannesburg.  Any  delay 
will  produce  worst  impression  here,  and  may  lead  to  serious  conseqiiences.  I 
have  already  promised  that  all  the  leaders  shall  be  brought  to  trial  imme- 
diately ;  but  it  would  bg  absurd  to  try  the  rank  and  file,  who  only  obeyed 
orders  which  they  could  not  refuse.  If  desired  we  may,  however,  engage  to 
bring  to  England  all  who  are  not  domiciled  in  South  Africa  ;  but  we  cannot 
undertake  to  bring  all  the  rank  and  file  to  trial,  for  that  would  make  a  farce 
of  the  whole  proceedings,  and  is  contrary  to  the  practice  of  all  civilized 
Governments.  As  regards  a  pledge  that  they  shall  be  punished,  the  Presicient 
will  see  on  consideration  that  althoiigh  a  Government  can  order  a  prosecution, 
it  cannot  in  any  free  country  compel  a  conviction.  You  may  remind  him 
that  the  murderers  of  Major  Elliot,  who  were  tried  in  the  Transvaal  in  1881, 
were  acquitted  by  a  jury  of  burghers.  Compare  also  the  treatment  by  us  of 
Stellaland  and  other  freebooters. 

The  result  of  this  communication  was  that  the  President  drew  in  his 
horns,  and  agreed  tliat  if  the  prisoners  were  deported  to  England  he 
would  be  satisfied  to  let  the  British  Government  decide  which  of  them 
should  be  prosecuted. 

The  success  of  his  diplomatic  methods  had  whetted  his  appetite,  it 
would  appear.  He  was  not  content  with  the  conditional  surrender  of 
Dr.  Jameson,  or — having  suppressed  the  fact  that  it  was  conditional 
— with  having  used  him  for  the  purpose  of  disarming  Johannesburg, 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  171 

but,  having  achieved  both  purposes,  Mr.  Kruger  was  still  desirous  of 
keeping  him  in  hand.  This,  however,  was  a  length  to  which  the 
British  Government  did  not  see  fit  to  go  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  in 
the  correspondence  which  has  passed  tending  to  show  that  even  then 
Sir  Hercules  Robinson  perceived  how  he  was  being  made  use  of  and 
played  with  by  the  President. 

On  the  night  of  the  9th  and  the  morning  of  the  10th  the  members  of 
the  Eeform  Committee,  to  the  number  of  about  sixty,  were  arrested 
and  lodged  in  gaol ;  and  from  this  moment  the  High  Commissioner 
appears  to  have  erased  them  from  the  tablets  of  his  memory.  On 
January  14  he  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  as  follows: 

I  have  received  a  letter  from  Government  of  South  African  Republic,  stating 
that,  in  their  opinion,  every  reason  exists  for  assuming  that  the  complications 
at  Johannesburg  are  approaching  to  an  end,  and  that  there  need  be  no  longer 
any  fear  of  further  bloodshed.  The  President  of  the  South  African  Republic 
and  Executive  Council  tender  to  me  the  warmest  thanks  of  tlie  Government 
of  the  South  African  Republic  for  the  assistance  I  have  been  able  to  render  in 
])reventing  further  bloodshed,  and  their  congratulations  on  the  manner  in 
which  my  object  in  coming  has  been  fulfilled.  They  tender  also  their  cordial 
acknowledgment  of  the  services  rendered  by  the  British  Agent  at  Pretoria, 
which  I  think  is  fully  deserved.  Tlie  Volksraad  met  yesterday,  and  adjourned 
until  May,  the  only  business  transacted  being  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Orange 
Free  State  and  the  High  Commissioner  for  their  efforts  in  promoting  a  peaceful 
settlement,  which  was  carried  by  acclamation.  I  now  only  await  settlement 
of  prisoners'  difliculty  to  leave  for  Capetown,  where  my  presence  is  urgently 
needed  in  consequence  of  change  of  Ministers.  Governor  of  Xatal  and  General 
Cox  are  here,  to  whom  I  will  give  instructions  as  to  reception  and  disposal  of 
prisonei's  as  soon  as  I  hear  from  you. 

To  this  Mr.  Chamberlain  telegraphed  a  most  important  reply  on 
January  15 : 

I  am  left  in  great  perplexity  by  your  telegram  No.  3,  of  the  14th  inst.,  and 
fear  that  some  previous  telegrams  must  have  miscarried.  (Here  follow  direc- 
tions to  refer  to  a  number  of  telegrams  in  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  had  indi- 
cated the  settlement  which  he  anticipated,  the  nature  of  the  reforms  which 
Sir  Hercules  Robinson  Avas  to  secure,  and  many  inquiries  as  to  the  reason  for 
the  arrests  of  the  Reformers  as  reported  in  the  English  papers.)  I  have 
received  no  reply  to  any  of  these  telegrams,  but  have  assumed  that  negotia- 
tions were  in  progress  between  the  President  and  yourself. 

There  can  be  no  settlement  until  the  questions  raised  by  these  telegrams 
are  disposed  of.  Tlie  people  of  Johannesburg  laid  down  their  arms  in  the 
belief  that  reasonable  concessions  would  be  arranged  by  your  intervention  ; 
and  until  these  are  granted,  or  definitely  promised  to  you  by  the  President, 
the  root-causes  of  the  recent  troubles  will  remain. 

The  President  has  again  and  again  promised  reform,  and  especially  on  the 
30th  December  last,  when  he  promised  reforms  in  education  and  franchise  ; 
and  grave  dissatisfaction  would  be  excited  if  you  left  Pretoria  without  a  clear 
understanding  on  these  points.  Her  Majesty's  Government  invite  President 
Kruger,  in  the  interests  of  tlie  South  African  Republic  and  of  peace,  to  make 
a  full  declaration  on  these  mutters.  I  am  also  awaiting  a  reply  respecting  the 
alleged  wholesale  arrest  of  English,  American,  and  other  nationalities,  made 
after  the  surrender  of  Johannesburg. 


172  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

It  will  be  your  duty  to  use  firm  language,  and  to  tell  the  President  that 
neglect  to  meet  the  admitted  grievances  of  the  Uitlanders  by  giving  a  definite 
promise  to  propose  reasonable  concessions  would  have  a  disastrous  effect  upon 
the  prospects  of  a  lasting  and  satisfactory  settlement. 

Send  me  a  full  report  of  the  steps  that  you  have  already  taken  with  regard 
to  this  matter,  and  of  the  further  action  that  you  propose. 

In  the  meantime  Sir  Hercules  Robinson  left  Pretoria,  satisfied  that 
he  had  done  all  that  was  necessary,  and  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain as  follows : 

From  the  High  Commissioneb  en  route,  to  Capetown. 

V^th  January,  1896.  No.  1. — Your  telegram  13  January,  No.  1,  only 
reached  me  last  night,  after  I  had  left  Pretoria.  I  could,  if  you  consider  it 
desirable,  communicate  purport  to  President  of  South  African  Republic  by 
letter,  but  I  myself  think  such  action  would  be  inopportune  at  this  moment. 
Nearly  all  leading  Johannesburg  men  are  now  in  gaol,  charged  with  treason 
against  the  State,  and  it  is  rumoured  that  Government  has  written  evidence 
of  a  long-standing  and  widespread  conspiracy  to  seize  government  of  country 
on  the  plea  of  denial  of  political  privileges,  and  to  incorporate  the  country 
with  that  of  British  South  Africa  Company.  The  truth  of  these  reports  will 
be  tested  in  the  trials  to  take  place  shortly  in  the  High  Court,  and  meanwhile 
to  urge  claim  for  extended  political  privileges  for  the  very  men  so  charged 
would  be  ineffectual  and  impolitic.  President  of  South  African  Republic  has 
already  promised  municipal  government  to  Johannesburg,  and  has  stated 
in  a  proclamation  that  all  grievances  advanced  in  a  constitutional  manner  will 
be  carefully  considered  and  brought  before  the  Volksraad  without  loss  of  time  ; 
but  until  result  of  trials  is  known  nothing  of  course  Avill  now  be  done. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  replied  to  the  above  : 

\Uh  January.  No.  5. — Referring  to  your  telegram.  No.  1,  of  the  15th 
January,  see  my  telegram  No.  1  of  to-day,  which  was  sent  before  receipt  of 
yours.  I  recognise  tliat  the  actual  moment  is  not  opportune  for  a  settlement 
of  the  Uitlanders'  grievances,  and  that  the  position  of  the  President  of  the 
South  African  Republic  may  be  an  embarrassing  one,  but  I  do  not  consider 
that  the  arrest  of  a  few  score  of  individuals  out  of  a  population  of  70,000  or 
more,  or  the  supposed  existence  of  a  plot  amongst  that  small  minority,  is  a 
reason  for  denying  to  the  overwhelming  majority  of  innocent  persons  reforms 
which  are  just  in  themselves  and  exjjedient  in  the  interests  of  the  Republic. 
Whatever  may  be  said  about  the  conduct  of  a  few  individuals,  nothing  can  be 
plainer  than  that  the  sober  and  industrious  majority  refused  to  countenance 
any  resort  to  violence,  and  proved  their  readiness  to  obey  the  law  and  your 
authority.  I  hope,  therefore,  to  hear  at  an  early  date  that  you  propose  to 
resume  discussion  with  President  of  South  African  Republic  on  lines  laid  down 
in  my  previous  telegrams.  I  do  not  see  that  the  matter  need  wait  until  the 
conclusion  of  the  trial  of  the  supposed  plotters.  I  am  anxious  to  receive  the 
information  asked  for  in  my  telegram  No.  1  of  the  14th  January.  Please 
communicate  at  once  with  the  President  on  this  matter. 

The  following  is  the  telegram  to  which  allusion  is  made  above  : 

\Mh  January.  No.  1. — Press  telegrams  state  numerous  airests  of  leading 
residents  on  the  Rand,  including  many  Americans,  Germans,  and  other 
nationalities.  Fear  that  number  of  these  arrests  of  active  managers,  repre- 
sentatives, may  disorganize  industry  on  the  Rand.  Wish  to  know  of  what 
accused,  when  brought  to  trial,  whether  bail  allowed,  and  what  penalties  pre- 


W'^: 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  173 

scribed  by  law.  Shall  be  glad  to  learn  from  President  of  South  African 
Republic  what  his  intentions  are  in  this  matter,  which  aifects  the  subjects  of 
so  many  States.  Propose  to  communicate  President's  reply  to  American  and 
Belgian  Governments,  which  have  already  asked  us  to  take  charge  of  interests 
of  their  respective  citizens. 

Sir  Hercules  Kobinson  replied ; 

15<7i  January.  No.  2. — Your  telegram  of  the  14th  January,  No.  1.  The 
accused  are  between  fifty  and  sixty  in  number,  and  are  mostly  members  of  the 
Reform  Committee.  They  have  been  arrested  on  charge  of  treason,  and  of 
seeking  to  subvert  the  State  by  inviting  the  co-operation  and  entrance  into  it 
of  an  armed  force.  The  proceedings  arc  based,  I  understand,  on  sworn 
information,  and  the  trials  will  take  place  before  High  Court.  The  accused 
are  being  well  treated,  and  are  represented  by  able  counsel.  It  is  alleged  that 
Government  has  documentary  evidence  of  a  widespread  conspiracy  to  seize 
upon  Government,  and  make  use  of  the  wealth  of  the  country  to  rehabilitate 
finances  of  British  South  Africa  Company.  On  taking  leave  of  President  of 
South  African  Republic,  I  urged  on  him  moderation  as  regards  the  accused, 
so  as  not  to  alienate  the  sympathy  he  now  enjoys  of  all  right-minded  persons. 
Bail  is  a  matter  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Attorney-General.  The  Govern- 
ment seem  acting  Avithin  their  legal  rights,  and  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  inter- 
fere.    Mines  are  at  work,  and  industry  does  not  seem  to  be  disorganized. 

While  still  on  his  way  to  Capetown  the  High  Commissioner  tele- 
graphed to  Mr.  Chamberlain  again  in  a  manner  indicating  his  complete 
abandonment  of  the  position  taken  up  by  him  in  relation  to  J^ohannes- 
burg — in  fact,  his  repudiation  of  what  his  own  words  have  recorded 
against  him : 

16th  January.  No.  1. — Your  telegram  of  the  15th  January,  No.  1, 
received.  I  cannot  at  this  moment  follow  the  complications  arising  from 
supposed  missing  and  crossing  telegrams,  but  can  only  say  that  no  telegram 
which  has  reached  me  from  you  has  remained  unanswered. 

No  promise  was  made  to  Johannesburg  by  me  as  an  inducement  to  disarm, 
except  that  the  promises  made  in  the  President's  previous  proclamation  would 
be  adhered  to,  and  that  Jameson  and  the  other  prisoners  would  not  be  trans- 
ferred until  Johannesburg  had  unconditionally  laid  down  its  arms  and 
surrendered.  I  sent  your  long  telegram  of  4th  January  to  President ;  but 
the  question  of  concessions  to  Uitlanders  has  never  been  discussed  between  us. 
Pending  result  of  coming  trials,  and  the  extent  to  which  Johannesburg  is 
implicated  in  the  alleged  conspiracy  to  subvert  the  State  is  made  clear,  the 
question  of  political  privileges  would  not  be  entertained  by  Government  of  the 
South  African  Republic. 

He  justified  the  change  of  policy  in  another  communication  addressed 
to  Mr.  Chamberlain  before  he  reached  Capetown : 

IQth  January.  No.  3.— Y'our  telegram  of  the  15th  January,  No.  5,  If  you 
will  leave  the  matter  in  my  hands,  I  will  resume  advocacy  of  Uitlanders' 
claims  at  the  first  moment  I  think  it  can  be  done  with  advantage;  the 
present  moment  is  the  most  inopportune,  as  the  strongest  feeling  of  irritation 
and  indignation  against  the  Uitlanders  exists  both  amongst  the  burghers  and 
Members  of  Volksraad'  of  both  Republics.  Any  attempt  to  dictate  in  regard 
to  the  internal  affairs  of  South  African  Republic  at  this  moment  would  be 
resisted  by  all  parties  in  South  Africa,  and  would  do  great  harm. 


174  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

I  have  already  replied  in  my  telegram  of  15th  January,  No.  2,  in  answer  to 
your  telegram  of  14th  January,  No.  1,  and  I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  obtain 
further  information  at  this  stage,  the  matter  being  sub  jvdice. 

Sir  Hercules  Eobinson  left  Pretoria  on  the  14th,  having  resided 
within  a  few  hundred,  yards  of  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  comrades  for  a 
week,  and  of  the  Keform  prisoners  for  four  days,  without  making  any 
attempt  whatever  to  ascertain  their  circumstances  or  story.  During 
that  time  his  military  secretary  called  upon  Dr.  Jameson  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  out  details  of  the  prisoners  and  wounded  of  the 
force,  but  made  no  further  inquiries.  Dr.  Jameson's  solicitor  wrote  to 
the  Colonial  Office  on  March  5  : 

My  deak  Faikfield, 

You  have  probably  seen  the  cable  that  has  come  to  the  Diggers'  News, 
giving  the  lie  direct  to  Sir  John  Willoughby's  statement  respecting  terms  of 
surrender. 

I  have  seen  Sir  John  again,  and  am  authorized  by  him  to  state,  with  regard 
to  the  criticism,  that  it  is  incredible  that  nothing  should  have  been  said  by 
the  officers  when  in  prison  at  Pretoria  to  anybody  about  the  terms  of  surrender  ; 
that  it  must  be  remembered  that  from  tlie  time  of  the  surrender  until  they 
left  Africa  none  of  them  were  allowed  to  make  any  conmmnication.  While  in 
gaol  they  were  not  allowed  to  see  newspapers  or  to  receive  any  news  of  what 
was  going  on  in  Pretoria  or  elsewhere. 

Sir  J.  Willoughby  made  a  statement  to  the  head  gaoler  and  other  officials 
at  the  time  of  his  arrival  at  the  gaol,  when  he  was  searched  and  all  his  papers 
taken  from  him.  He  requested  to  be  allowed  to  keep  the  document  signed  by 
Cronje,  as  it  contained  the  terms  of  the  surrender,  but  received  as  answer  that 
all  papers  must  be  taken  and  that  they  would  be  returned  afterwards.  They 
were,  in  fact,  taken,  and  only  returned  when  the  officers  were  removed  from  the 
gaol  to  go  to  Durban. 

My  clients  did  try  to  get  a  note  through  to  Johannesburg  concealed  in  a 
matchbox.  They  paid  twenty-five  pounds  to  get  it  through,  and  sent  it 
within  thirty-six  hours  of  their  arrival  in  gaol,  but  they  have  never  been  able 
to  ascertain  whether  it  reached  its  destination. 

The  gist  of  it  was  that  they  were  all  right.  It  never  occurred  to  the 
prisoners  that  neither  the  British  Resident  nor  the  High  Commissioner  would 
be  informed  of  the  terms  of  the  surrender,  or  that  they  would  not  satisfy 
themselves  on  this  point. 

Sir  Hercules  Eobinson  might  urge,  in  so  far  as  Dr.  Jameson's  affair 
is  concerned,  that  he  could  not  be  expected  to  suspect  a  deception  such 
as  was  practised  upon  him ;  yet  it  does  seem  extraordinary  that, 
being  in  Pretoria  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  for  the  disposal  of 
Dr.  Jameson  and  his  comrades,  he  should  not  have  taken  steps  to 
ascertain  what  there  was  to  be  said  on  their  behalf,  especially  as  on  his 
own  showing  it  was  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time  a  question  of  life 
and  death  for  the  leaders  of  the  force.  It  is  even  more  difficult  to 
understand  why  no  effort  should  have  been  made  to  communicate  with 
the  Keformers.  The  High  Commissioner  was  thoroughly  well  aware 
of  the  negotiations  between  them  and  the  Government  on  January  1. 
He  had  received  communications  by  telegraph  from  the  Beformers 


AFTER  DOORNKOP  175 

before  he  left  Capetown  ;  he  came  up  avowedly  to  settle  their  business ; 
he  negotiated  on  their  behalf  and  induced  them  to  disarm  ;  he  witnessed 
their  arrest  and  confinement  in  gaol ;  yet  not  only  did  he  not  visit 
them  himself,  nor  send  an  accredited  member  of  his  staff  to  inquire 
into  their  case  and  conditions,  but  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  alleges  that  he 
actually,  in  deference  to  the  wish  of  the  President,  desired  the  British 
Agent  not  to  hold  any  communication  whatever  with  the  prisoners 
during  his  (Sir  Hercules  Eobinson's)  stay  in  Pretoria.  Truly  we  have 
had  many  examples  of  President  Kruger's  audacity  and  of  the  success 
of  it,  but  nothing  to  equal  this.  That  he  demanded  from  Sir  Hercules 
Ptobinson  information  as  to  the  objects  of  the  Flying  Squadron  and 
the  movements  of  British  troops  in  British  territory,  and  succeeded  in 
getting  it,  was  a  triumph  ;  but  surely  not  on  a  par  with  that  of  desiring 
the  High  Commissioner  not  to  hold  communication  with  the  British 
subjects  whom  he,  as  the  official  representative  of  their  sovereign,  had 
travelled  a  thousand  miles  to  disarm,  and  on  whose  behalf — ostensibly 
— he  was  there  to  negotiate. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ARREST   AND    TRIAL    OF   THE    REFORMERS 

About  half  of  the  members  of  the  Eeform  Committee  were  arrested 
and  taken  through  to  Pretoria  on  the  night  of  the  9th.  Others  were 
arrested  at  various  times  during  tlie  evening  and  night,  were  detained 
in  the  lock-up  at  Johannesburg  as  ordinary  felons,  and  escorted  to  the 
Pretoria  gaol  on  the  following  morning.  The  scene  on  their  arrival  at 
Pretoria  railway- station  and  during  their  march  to  the  gaol  was  not 
creditable  to  the  Boers.  A  howling  mob  surrounded  the  prisoners, 
hustling  them,  striking  them,  and  hurling  abuse  at  them  incessantly. 
The  mounted  burghers  acting  as  an  escort  forced  their  horses  at  the 
unfortunate  men  on  foot,  jostling  them  and  threatening  to  ride 
them  down.  One  of  the  prisoners,  a  man  close  on  sixty  years  of  age, 
was  thrown  by  an  excited  patriot  and  kicked  and  trampled  on  before 
he  was  rescued  by  some  of  his  comrades. 

Once  within  the  gaol,  the  men  were  searched  and  locked  up  in  the 
cells,  and  treated  exactly  as  black  or  white  felons  of  the  lowest 
description.  In  many  cases  four  or  five  men  were  incarcerated  in 
single  cells  9  feet  long  by  5  feet  6  inches  wide,  with  one  small  grating 
for  ventilation.  At  night  they  were  obliged  to  lie  on  the  mud  floor,  or 
in  some  cases  on  filthy  straw  mattresses  left  in  the  cells  by  former 
occupants.  No  provision  was  made  by  which  they  could  obtain 
blankets  or  other  covering — indeed,  at  first  it  was  not  necessary,  as 
the  overcrowding  and  lack  of  ventilation  very  nearly  resulted  in 
asphyxiation.     With  an  inhumanity  almost  incredible,  in  one  instance 


176  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

one  of  the  prisoners,  suffering  from  fever  and  dysentery,  was  locked  up 
for  twelve  hours  with  four  others  in  such  a  cell  without  any  sanitary 
provisions  whatever.  Friends  in  Pretoria  induced  the  authorities,  by 
means  not  unpopular  in  that  place,  to  admit  a  better  class  of  food 
than  that  allowed  to  the  ordinary  prisoners ;  and  it  is  stated  that  the 
first  meal  enjoyed  by  the  Eeformers  cost  close  upon  £100  for  introduc- 
tion. Day  by  day  fresh  concessions  were  obtained  in  a  similar  manner, 
with  the  result  that  before  long  the  prisoners  were  allowed  to  have 
their  own  clothing  and  beds  and  such  food  as  they  chose  to  order. 
Nothing,  however,  could  alter  the  indescribable  sanitary  conditions, 
nor  compensate  for  the  fact  that  the  cells  occupied  by  these  men  were 
in  many  cases  swarming  with  vermin. 

The  climate  in  Pretoria  in  January  is  almost  tropical,  and  the 
sufferings  of  many  of  the  older  and  less  robust  men  under  such 
circumstances  were  very  considerable.  On  the  eleventh  day  of  incar- 
ceration the  majority  of  the  prisoners  were  let  out  on  bail  of  £2,000 
each ;  in  the  cases  of  two  or  three  bail  of  £4,000  each  was  required ; 
but  bail  was  refused  to  Colonel  Ehodes,  Messrs.  Phillips,  Farrar, 
Hammond  (the  signatories  to  the  letter),  and  J.  P.  FitzPatrick,  tha 
secretary  of  the  Reform  Committee.  These  five  continued  to  occupy 
the  undesirable  premises  for  four  weeks  more,  at  the  end  of  which 
time,  owing  to  the  serious  effect  upon  their  health  which  imprison- 
ment under  these  conditions  had  produced,  and  owing  to  the  repeated 
representations  within  the  Transvaal,  and  from  the  British  Govern- 
ment as  well,  an  alteration  was  made  under  somewhat  novel  conditions. 

It  was  notified  to  the  public  that  the  Government  had  graciously 
consented  to  admit  the  prisoners  to  bail.  The  terms,  however,  were 
not  at  the  time  publicly  announced.  First  and  foremost,  it  was 
required  of  them  that  they  should  deposit  £10,000  in  sovereigns  each 
as  a  security  that  they  would  not  break  the  conditions  of  their  altered 
imprisonment.  They  were  to  reside  in  a  cottage  in  Pretoria  under 
strong  guard,  and  they  were  to  pay  the  whole  of  the  costs  of  their 
detention,  including  the  salary  and  living  expenses  of  the  officer  and 
guard  placed  over  them.  The  cost,  including  interest  upon  the  money 
deposited,  was  upwards  of  £1,000  a  month. 

The  preliminary  examination  into  the  charges  against  the  Reformers 
began  on  February  3,  and  last  about  a  month.  It  resulted  in  the 
committal  for  trial,  on  the  charge  of  high  treason,  of  aU  those  arrested. 
The  Imperial  Government  having  decided  to  send  a  representative  to 
watch  the  trial  on  behalf  of  the  British,  American  and  Belgian 
subjects,  Mr.  J.  Rose  Imies,  Q.C.,  the  leader  of  the  Bar  in  Cape 
Colony,  attended  on  their  behalf.  It  was  intimated  to  the  Transvaal 
Government  that  Mr.  Innes  would  represent  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment; but  objection  was  made  to  this  on  the  grounds  that  he  had 
been  admitted  to  the  Pretoria  Bar  during  the  British  administration, 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  177 

and  had  failed  to  comply  with  a  subsequent  rule  of  Court  which 
required  some  sort  of  registration ;  and  permission  was  refused  him 
to  address  the  Court.  The  objection  was  maintained,  and  Mr.  Innes 
was  obliged  to  limit  his  participation  in  the  affair  to  sitting  at  the 
counsels'  table  and  consulting  and  advising  with  the  Pretoria  barristers 
employed  to  defend  the  prisoners. 

The  examination  was,  as  Dr.  Coster  the  State  Attorney  announced, 
of  the  nature  of  a  fishing  examination,  and  he  claimed  to  be  permitted 
to  conduct  it  in  a  manner  which,  he  alleged,  is  popular  in  Holland,  but 
which  is  entirely  unknown  in  the  Transvaal,  and  certainly  does  not 
obtain  in  any  British  possession.  The  chief  feature  of  this  system 
appears  to  bo  a  total  disregard  of  the  rules  applying  to  evidence.  A 
few  instances  will  suffice.  One  of  the  first  witnesses  called  was  Judge 
Ameshof,  who  with  Chief  Justice  Kotze  and  Mr.  Kock  formed  the 
Government  Commission  appointed  to  meet  the  deputation  from  the 
Reform  Committee  on  January  1.  Judge  Ameshof  was  duly  sworn, 
and  was  asked  to  identify  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  Reform  Com- 
mittee. He  did  so.  He  stated  that  it  was  the  list  supplied  to  the 
Government  Commission  at  the  meeting  of  January  1  by  the  deputa- 
tion of  the  Reform  Committee,  and  he  regarded  it  therefore  as 
authentic.  The  deputation  had  stated  to  the  Commission  that  it 
was  so. 

This  was  the  first  revelation  of  the  tactics  about  to  be  pursued  by 
the  Government,  in  using  information  which  had  been  given  under 
privilege  and  in  good  faith  by  the  prisoners  themselves,  when  nego- 
tiating with  the  Government  prior  to  any  question  of  arrest  being 
raised.     Mr.  Wessels,   counsel  for  the  accused,  rose  to  obtain   from 
Judge  Ameshof  the  official  account  of  the  meeting,  desiring  to  prove 
this  very  important  negotiation  by  means  of  witnesses  on  the  Govern- 
ment side.     He  got  no  further,  however,  than  saying  to  the  witness, 
'  You  said  you  v/ere  a  member  of  the  Government  Commission  ?'  when 
Judge  Ameshof  replied,  '  Yes,  but  if  you  are  going  to  ask  me  about 
anything  that  took  place  at  that  meeting,  I  cannot  answer,  because 
the  meeting  was  a  privileged  one.'      Mr.  Wessels   did  not  lose   his 
opportunity.     '  You  have  stated,'  he  said,  '  that  you  are  a  Judge  of 
the  High  Court  ?'     The  witness  signified  assent.     '  And  you  mean  to 
tell  me,'  Mr.  Wessels  continued,  '  that  you  feel  yourself  free  to  divulge 
so  much  as  it  suits  the  Government  to  reveal,  but  that  as  soon  as  I 
wish  to   prove   something  to   my   clients'    advantage   the   interview 
becomes  privileged?'     The  witness  did  not  answer,  and  Mr.  Wessels 
appealed  to  the  Court.    Judicial  Commissioner  Zeiler,  however,  upheld 
the  witness's  contention.     Mr.  Wessels  urged  in  reply  that  if  it  was  a 
privileged  interview  he  objected  to  any  evidence  whatever  being  given 
in  connection  with  it,  and  protested  vehemently  against  the  admission 
of  the  list  of  members  just  sworn  to.     The  objection  was  overruled, 

1-2 


178  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

and  it  was  thus  laid  down  that  the  interview  was  privileged  as  far  as 
the  Government  was  concerned,  but  not  in  so  far  as  it  could  benefit 
the  Reformers. 

Another  case  was  that  of  Mr.  Schumacher,  a  witness  who  testified, 
inter  alia,  that  he  did  not  know  what  the  objects  of  a  certain  Develop- 
ment Syndicate  were.  His  evidence  showed  that  he  had  not  been 
informed  upon  this  point.  He  was  very  hard  pressed  by  the  State 
Attorney,  but  he  adhered  to  his  first  answer.  Dr.  Coster  then  altered 
his  tactics  and  asked,  '  Had  you  no  opinions  on  the  subject  ?  Did  you 
not  guess  at  all?'  The  witness  replied  that  he  might  have  thought 
and  conjectured  at  various  times,  but  that  he  had  nothing  in  the  nature 
of  information  or  knowledge  on  the  point.  This  did  not  satisfy  Dr. 
Coster,  who  then  pressed  the  question,  '  "Well,  what  did  you  think  ? 
What  were  your  thoughts?'  The  witness  objected  to  state  what  his 
thoughts  were,  as  they  could  have  no  bearing  on  the  fact,  and  might 
be  absolutely  wide  of  the  mark.  He  could  only  repeat  that  he  had  no 
knowledge.  The  witness  appealed  to  the  Bench  for  protection.  Mr. 
Wessels  urged  that  it  was  an  unheard-of  proceeding  to  compel  a  witness 
to  state  what  he  thought  and  to  use  it  as  evidence.  The  objections 
were  again  overruled,  and  the  witness  was  ordered  by  the  Court  to 
answer.  His  reply  afforded  no  satisfaction  to  the  Government,  being 
to  the  effect  that  he  could  not  then  remember  what  his  thoughts  were 
at  various  times.  On  the  application  of  the  State  Attorney  the  Judicial 
Commissioner  sent  him  to  gaol  for  twelve  hoiurs  for  contempt  of 
court. 

Mr.  Wessels  strenuously  objected  to  the  decision,  and  applied  to  the 
Court  to  stay  imprisonment  to  enable  him  to  appeal  to  a  judge  in 
chambers,  but  even  this  was  refused.  Mr.  Wessels  in  the  course  of 
his  address  received  a  reprimand  from  the  Bench  for  stating  that  he 
now  recognised  the  force  of  the  State  Attorney's  contention  that  the 
law  of  evidence  as  obtaining  in  South  Africa  was  not  sufficiently  wide ; 
for,  he  added,  he  thought  it  would  suit  the  purpose  of  the  Government 
better  if  they  reverted  to  an  older  system  under  which  racks  and 
thumbscrews  were  popular. 

The  witness  was  sent  to  gaol.  Some  hom-s  later  an  appeal  was 
heard  by  Judge  de  Kort^  in  chambers,  and  the  decision  of  the  Judicial 
Commissioner  was  reversed,  but  the  prisoner  had  already  completed 
seven  hours'  imprisonment  in  a  dirty  cell.  Judge  de  Korte  stated  that 
he  had  reversed  the  decision  after  consultation  with  Chief  Justice 
Kotze,  and  it  was  felt  that  something  at  least  had  been  achieved  by 
Mr.  Schumacher,  and  the  rights  of  a  witness  would  be  recognised. 
But  the  end  is  not  always  in  sight  in  dealing  with  the  Transvaal 
Government.  The  State  Attorney  in  turn  appealed  from  the  single 
judge's  decision  to  the  full  Bench.  Judge  Morice,  a  Scotchman,  many 
years  a  judge  of  the  High  Court,  supported  the  decision  of  Judge  de 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  179 

Kort^.  Tho  Chief  Justice,  who  had  advised  Judge  de  Korte  in  his 
decision,  however,  in  a  most  extraordinary  judgment,  now  reversed  it, 
and  in  this  view  he  was  supported  by  Judge  Ameshof — himself  a 
witness  in  the  case  against  the  Eeformers. 

Thus  the  majority  judgment  of  the  High  Court  against  the  Reformers 
on  this  principle  of  evidence  happened  to  be  formulated  by  tlie  two 
judges  who  had  been  appointed  to  negotiate  with  the  Reformers'  deputa- 
tion on  behalf  of  the  Government. 

The  impossibility  of  obtaining  justice  in  the  Courts  of  the  Transvaal 
under  the  then  conditions  was  thus  brought  home  to  the  prisoners. 
An  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Lower  Court  on  Judge  Ameshof's 
interpretation  of  privilege,  which  had  been  seriously  discussed,  was 
then  abandoned  as  being  worse  than  useless,  and  calculated  only  to 
provoke  more  extreme  measures  against  the  prisoners  by  placing  the 
Bench  in  a  ridiculous  position.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  the  Chief 
Justice,  who  was  himself  a  member  of  the  Government  Commission 
which  Judge  Ameshof  had  claimed  to  be  privileged,  would  take  any 
other  view  than  that  favouring  the  poHcy  and  convenience  of  the 
Government  which  he  showed  himself  so  ready  to  befriend. 

In  tho  Schumacher  appeal  case  before  the  full  Court,  Dr.  Coster  had 
made  no  secret  that  he  intended  to  disregard  the  rules  and  precedents 
governing  the  treatment  of  witnesses,  and  even  claimed  that  he  should 
receive  no  opposition  from  the  pi  isoners'  counsel,  since  he  was  only 
*  fishing^  for  evidence  and  not  actually  accumulating  it  against  the 
prisoners,  and  had  no  intention  of  using  the  evidence  given  at  this 
examination.  Mr.  Wessels  asked  him  whether  he  would  pledge  himself 
to  this  effect,  and  what,  for  instance,  would  be  done  in  case  a  witness 
who  had  been  heard  at  the  preliminary  examination  should  die  before 
the  main  trial  came  off.  The  reply  was,  that  in  such  a  case  of  course 
the  Government  would  be  bound  to  use  some  of  the  evidence,  but 
would  use  it  with  discretion  and  not  unfairly.  This  undertaking 
provoked  smiles  even  in  court.  The  wisdom  and  fairness  of  Mr. 
Wessels'  contention  were  fully  justified  when  the  trial  actually  did 
take  place,  for  the  whole  of  the  evidence  of  the  preliminary  examination 
was  handed  in  for  the  guidance  of  the  judge  in  determining  his 
sentences  against  the  accused.  It  may  be  added  that  each  vsdtness 
was  called  upon  to  sign  the  notes  of  his  evidence  as  taken  down  in 
Dutch.  When  required,  the  ofiicial  reporter  read  a  free  translation  of 
the  notes  to  the  witness  before  they  were  signed. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  examination  aU  the  prisoners  were  com- 
mitted on  the  same  charge — that  of  high  treason — no  distinction 
whatever  being  made  in  the  references  to  them  from  the  Bench.  By 
this  time  Mr.  Hammond,  who  had  been  ill,  was  released  on  bail  of 
j920,000  in  order  to  go  to  the  seaside. 

Apphcation  was  made  on  behalf  of  Colonel  Rhodes,  Messrs.  Phillips, 

12-2 


180  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Farrar,  and  FitzPatrick  for  release  on  bail,  upon  the  grounds  that  no 
distinction  whatever  had  been  made  between  them  and  the  other 
prisoners  who  had  already  been  released,  but  this  was  refused  after  the 
point  had  been  reserved  for  consideration  by  the  State  Attorney  in 
consultation  with  the  Chief  Justice,  and  the  four  men  returned  to  their 
former  conditions  of  imprisonment.  Mr.  Chamberlain  continued  to 
make  representations  on  behalf  of  these  men,  and  at  one  time  it 
appeared  as  though  the  restrictions  would  be  removed,  Dr.  Coster 
having  pledged  himself  to  accept  bail,  and  having  actually  drawn  out 
the  bail-bonds  and  submitted  them  to  the  solicitors  of  the  accused  for 
approval,  and  every  arrangement  having  been  completed — even  to  the 
finding  of  the  additional  security.  They  were,  however,  at  the  last 
moment  curtly  informed  that  bail  would  not  be  allowed.  On  this 
being  reported  to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  he  at  once  replied  to  the  effect  that 
he  could  not  believe  that  a  Government  would  revoke  a  promise  made 
on  their  behalf  by  the  State  Attorney.  Dr.  Leyds,  on  behalf  of  his 
Government,  stated  that  the  matter  was  in  the  hands  of  the  State 
Attorney  alone  and  did  not  concern  the  Executive,  and  that  on  inquiry 
he  found  that  no  such  promise  had  been  made  and  no  undertaking 
given.  The  incident  is  more  or  less  trivial,  but  again  shows  the 
readiness  with  which  the  Boer  Government  repudiate  a  promise  when 
it  is  to  their  convenience  to  do  so.  Dr.  Coster  on  his  sid^  admitted 
with  expressions  of  regret  that  there  had  been  a  breach  of  undertaking, 
and  stated  that  it  had  been  done  by  order  of  the  Executive  Council. 

Communications  between  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  the  Pretoria  Govern- 
ment were  of  great  frequency  during  this  period.  The  phantom  of 
Mr.  Kruger's  visit  to  England  was  chased  with  great  assiduity.  The 
wily  old  President  seized  on  Mr.  Chamberlain's  suggestions  as  an 
excellent  pretext  for  delay  to  enable  him  to  spread  his  nets,  and  he 
used  the  time  to  great  advantage.  But  this  was  not  the  worst  1 
Mr.  Chamberlain's  new  diplomacy  and  his  stupid  or  treacherous 
advisers  led  him  into  blunders ;  as  when,  for  instance,  he  tried  to 
bounce  without  the  intention  of  making  good  his  implied  threats  ;  and 
when  he  sent  his  4th  of  February  despatch  (publishing  it  in  London 
before  it  reached  Pretoria),  strongly  and  ably  reviewing  the  position, 
but  spoiling  all  by  a  proposal  which,  whilst  it  had  not  been  suggested 
to  or  discussed  by  the  Kand  people,  and  would  not  have  been  accept- 
able to  them  in  lieu  of  what  they  had  demanded,  was  also  an  inter- 
ference in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Transvaal.  It  gave  the  Pretoria 
Government  an  opportunity,  which  they  did  not  miss,  of  severely 
snubbing  Mr.  Chamberlain.  When  the  latter  in  turn  peremptorily 
refused  their  demands,  he  was  informed  that  the  cancellation  of  the 
London  Convention  would  not  be  pressed  '  at  ;present,'  but  might 
remain  in  abeyance. 

Throughout  the  period  prior  to  the  main  trial,  President  Kruger 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  181 

continued  to  use  with  great  effect  'the  wishes  and  intentions  of  his 
burghers.'  "When  bail  was  first  refused  to  the  leaders  this  course  was 
justified  on  the  grounds  that  the  burghers  were  strongly  against  it,  and 
that  the  President  could  not  act  against  their  wishes.  When  at  a  later 
stage  a  petition  was  presented  by  a  number  of  burghers  more  or  less  in 
touch  with  the  Uitlander  community,  who  felt  that  the  treatment  of 
the  leaders  was  having  a  bad  effect,  counter  petitions  came  in  within  a 
day  or  two  urging  the  Government  on  no  account  to  extend  the 
privilege  of  bail  to  these  men.  Oddly  enough,  these  petitions  were  got 
up  and  signed  by  relatives  and  near  connections  of  the  President 
himself. 

During  this  period  another  petition  was  presented  which  is  surely 
without  parallel  in  a  civilized  State  ;  but  it  illustrates  admirably  tlse 
Boer  idea  of  right  and  liberty.  Fifty  burghers  in  the  district  of 
Standerton  addressed  the  Government,  pointing  out  the  undesirability 
of  allowing  a  *  certain  Advocate  Wessels  to  defend  the  Jameson  rebels,' 
and  praying  that  the  Government  would  put  him  over  the  border, 
'  which  is  the  slightest  punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  upon  him.' 
The  receipt  of  this  petition  was  announced  in  the  Government  organ, 
the  Press,  on  March  25. 

At  about  this  time  another  incident  occurred  which  excited  con- 
siderable feeling.  Commandant  Henning  Pretorius,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  Boer  officials,  having  paid  a  visit  to  his  native  district  in 
the  Cape  Colony  shortly  after  the  Jameson  raid,  purchased  from  the 
owner  of  a  farm  at  Cookhouse  Drift;  the  beam  from  which  the  five 
Boers  had  been  hanged  at  Slagter's  Nek  for  rebellion  in  the  year  1816. 
Keference  has  already  been  made  in  the  first  chapter  to  this  deplorable 
affair.  The  beam  (which  had  been  built  into  the  house)  was  brought 
up  by  the  purchaser  to  Pretoria.  He  states,  and  no  doubt  truly,  that 
he  obtained  the  historical  relic  for  the  purpose  of  adding  it  to  the  National 
Museum ;  but  it  must  be  added  that  the  time  was  not  well  chosen 
unless  the  intention  was  to  rouse  feeling.  The  Volksstem,  the 
Hollander-Boer  organ,  in  an  extremely  violent  article,  described  in 
detail  the  Slagter's  Nek  executions,  and  called  upon  the  burghers  to 
avenge  on  the  persons  of  the  Eeformers  their  murdered  countrymen  ; 
and  it  is  a  fact  vouched  for  by  persons  by  no  means  friendly  to  the 
Uitlander  that  certain  Boers  approached  President  Kruger,  intimating 
to  him  that  the  beam  had  arrived,  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to 
bother  about  a  trial,  but  that  the  four  men  should  be  hanged  out  of 
hand  from  the  same  scaffold  which  had  served  for  their  compatriots, 
It  is  but  right  to  say  that  President  Kruger's  reply  was  a  severe 
reprimand,  and  a  reminder  that  they  were  not  a  barbarous  people,  but 
should  comply  with  the  law.  The  matter  having  been  brought  to  the 
notice  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  strong  representations  were  made  upon 
the   subject,  to  which  the   Transvaal  Government  replied  (forgetful 


182  THE  TBANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

apparently  of  the  fact  that  the  President  had  frequently  urged  hia 
inability  to  control  his  burghers)  that  the  Transvaal  was  a  civilized 
State,  that  the  burghers  were  law-abiding  and  peaceful  people,  and 
that  their  Government  was  at  all  times  able  to  control  them.  It  was 
interesting  to  see  the  argument  of  the  burghers  getting  out  of  hand, 
which  was  used  with  such  eflect  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Jameson  and  quoted 
by  Sir  Hercules  Kobinson,  recoil  upon  the  head  of  its  originator. 

A  final  effort  was  made  by  the  people  of  Johannesburg  to  obtain  the 
release  on  bail  of  the  four  prisoners.  A  petition  bearing  the  signatures 
of  20,000  persons  was  presented  ;  the  gentlemen  bearing  the  petition 
were  informed  that  it  could  not  be  received ;  that  they  must  call  again. 
Having  called  again  and  again,  the  petition  was  at  last  accepted  and 
placed  before  the  Government;  but  no  reply  was  ever  vouchsafed. 
The  treatment  of  this  memorial  is  in  sharp  contrast  with  that  accorded 
to  the  one  presented  by  a  score  or  so  of  the  President's  relatives  and 
supporters — objecting  to  the  release. 

From  the  time  of  the  arrests  until  just  before  the  trial  speculation 
was  rife  as  to  which  judge  would  preside.  The  Chief  Justice  and  Judge 
Ameshof  could  hardly  sit  (even  allowing  for  the  precedents  already 
established  by  them),  since  they  had  both  acted  on  the  Government 
Commission  in  negotiating  with  the  prisoners,  and  one  of  them  had 
already  given  evidence  against  the  accused.  There  remained  Justices 
Jorissen,  De  Kort^  and  Morice.  Mr.  De  Kort6  was  then  threatened 
with  suspension  owing  to  pecuniary  embarrassments,  and  would 
evidently  not  be  allowed  to  preside.  The  fifth  judge,  Mr.  Jorissen, 
had  expressed  himself  so  violently  against  the  Eeformers  that  he  had 
himself  recognised  the  impossibility  of  attaining  an  impartial  attitude, 
and  had  refused  to  sit.  The  only  judge  available  was  therefore  Mr. 
Justice  Morice,  against  whom  there  was  no  valid  objection  whatever. 
Moreover,  in  the  ordinary  routine  it  so  happened  that  it  was  his  turn 
to  preside  at  the  forthcoming  trial ;  but  he  was  known  to  hold  Liberal 
views  and  to  be  strongly  in  sympathy  with  internal  reform. 

At  this  time  Chief  Justice  Kotze  undertook  several  journeys  to  the 
Free  State  and  Cape  Colony,  ostensibly  to  rid  himself  of  insomnia, 
but  in  reality,  as  results  proved,  in  order  to  employ  a  judge  for  this 
trial.  His  choice  eventually  fell  upon  Mr,  Gregorowski,  formerly  a 
judge  in  the  Free  State,  and  at  that  time  State  Attorney  to  that 
country. 

Mr.  Gregorowski  was  noted  on  the  Bench  for  the  peculiar  severity 
of  his  sentences  on  all  except  Boers.  He  had  moreover  expressed 
openly  in  Bloemfontein  his  wish  that  he  might  have  the  trying  of 
'  those  Eeformers  ;  he  would  give  them  what  for.'  These  things  were 
not  known  at  the  time  of  the  trial ;  nor  had  the  fact  yet  come  out 
tliat  before  taking  the  oath  of  office  he  had  endeavoured  to  borrow  from 
one  at  least  of  his  colleagues  a  black  cap  for  the  forthcoming  trial. 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS 


183 


His  attitude  at  the  time  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  what  he  wrote 
shortly  after  the  trial,  in  defence  of  his  action,  '  /  came  up  to  put  down 
rehellion.  I  have  done  so  with  a  strong  hand,  and  I  believe  that  my 
judgment  will  bear  good  fruit  Li  the  future.'  The  prisoners  could  not- 
but  contrast  the  action  of  the  Government  in  employing  and  appoint- 
ing, on  approval,  a  judge  who  had  no  status  whatever  in  the  country, 
with  their  action  in  declining  to  allow  Mr.  Eose  Innes  to  appear  at  the 
Bar  on  the  pretext  of  his  previous  qualification  not  being  in  order ; 
and  it  was  felt  to  be  ominous  that  an  independent  and  upright  judge, 
against  whom  there  could  be  no  objection,  should  be  passed  over,  and 
another  specially  imported  for  the  occasion. 

The  trial  was  at  last  fixed  to  take  place  on  April  27,  and  the  indict- 
ments were  served  upon  the  accused  six  days  before  the  date.  The 
following  is  the  list  of  those  who  were  committed  for  trial : 


Lionel  Phillips. 

Colonel  F.  W.  Rhodes. 

George  Farrar. 

J.  H.  Hammond. 

J.  P.  FitzPatrick. 

S.  W.  Jameson. 

G.  Richards. 

J.  L.  Williams. 

G.  Sandilands. 

F.  Spencer. 

R.  A.  Bettington. 

J.  G.  Auret. 

E.  P.  Solomon. 

J.  W.  Leonard. 

W.  H.  S.  Bell. 

W.  E.  Hudson. 

D.  F.  Gilfillan. 
C.  H.  MuUins. 

E.  0.  Hutchinson. 
W.  van  Hulsteyn. 
A.  WooUs-Sampson. 
H.  C.  Hull. 

Alf.  Brown. 

C.  L.  Andersson. 

M.  Langermann. 

W.  Hosken 

W.  St.  John  Carr. 

H.  F.  Strange. 

C.  Garland. 

Fred  Gray.^ 

A.  Mackie  Mven. 

Dr.  W.  T.  F.  Davies. 


Dr.  R.  P.  Mitchell. 

Dr.  Hans  Sauer 

Dr.  A.  P.  Hillier. 

Dr.  D.  P.  Duirs. 

Dr.  W.  Brodie. 

H.  J.  King. 

A.  Bailey. 

Sir  Drummond  Dunbar. 

H.  E.  Becher. 

F.  Mosenthal. 

H.  A.  Rogers. 

C.  Butters. 

Walter  D.  Davies. 

H.  Bettelheim. 

F.  R.  Lingham. 

A.  L.  Lawley. 

W.  B.  Head. 

V.  M.  Clement. 

W.  Goddard. 

J.  J.  Lace, 

C.  A.  Treraeer. 

R.  G.  Frickor. 

J.  M.  Buckland. 

J.  Donaldson. 

F.  H.  Hamilton. 

P.  du  Bois. 

H.  B.  Marshall. 

S.  B.  Joel. 

A.  R.  Goldring. 

J.  A.  Roger, 

Thomas  Mein. 

J.  S.Curtis. 2 


1  Died  in  prison. 

2  Unable,  owing  to  illness,  to  stand  trial  with  the  others.  On  recovery, 
Mr.  Curtis  returned  to  the  Transvaal,  and  decided  to  plead  *  not  guilty, ' 
whereupon  proceedings  were  dropped. 


184  THE  TKANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  indictment  served  on  all  alike  was  as  follows  : 

H.  J.  Coster,  State  Attorney  of  the  South  African  Republic,  who,  on  behalf 
of  the  State,  prosecutes,  brings  to  the  notice  of  the  Court : 

That  the}''  (citing  the  accused),  all  and  each  or  one  or  more  of  them,  are 
guilty  of  the  crime  of  High  Treason  : 

Firstly :  In  that  in  or  about  the  months  of  November  and  December  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-iive,  the  exact  dates 
bein^  unknown  to  the  State  Attorney,  they,  the  said  accused,  at  Johannes- 
burg, Witwatersrand  Goldfields,  South  African  Republic,  being  citizens  of,  or 
residing  in,  this  Republic,  all  and  each  or  one  or  more  of  them  wrongfully, 
unhuvfully,  and  Avith  a  hostile  intention  to  disturb,  injiire,  or  bring  into 
danger  the  independence  or  safety  of  this  Republic,  treated,  conspired,  agreed 
with  and  urged  Leander  Starr  Jameson,  an  alien,  residing  Avithout  the  bound- 
aries of  this  Republic,  to  come  into  the  territory  of  this  Republic  at  the  head 
of  and  with  an  armed  and  hostile  troop,  and  to  make  a  hostile  invasion  and 
to  march  through  to  Joliannesburg  aforesaid. 

Secondly :  In  that  they  (the  said  accused),  being  citizens  of,  or  residing  in, 
this  Republic,  all  and  each  or  one  or  more  of  them,  there  and  then  in  con- 
junction with  Charles  Leonard  and  Dr.  H.  Wolff,  now  fugitives,  and  other 
l^ersons  unknown  to  the  State  Attorney,  appearing  and  acting  as  a  com- 
mittee, by  them  named  the  'Reform  Committee,'  after  the  above-mentioned 
Leander  Starr  Jameson,  on  or  about  December  29,  in  the  year  aforesaid,  had 
come  from  Avithout  the  Republic,  at  the  head  of  and  with  an  armed  and 
hostile  troop,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ottoshoop,  district  Marico,  into  the 
territory  of  this  Republic,  and  had  made  a  hostile  invasion,  and  had  violently 
attempted  to  penetrate  through  to  Johannesburg  aforesaid,  wrongfully,  un- 
lawfully, and  with  a  hostile  intention  to  disturb,  injiire,  or  bring  into  danger 
the  independence  or  safety  of  this  Republic,  gave,  or  attempted  to  give,  the 
aforementioned  Leander  Starr  Jameson  during  his  hostile  invasion  aforesaid 
information  about  the  state  of  the  defences  at  Johannesburg,  and  had  armed 
troops  ready  to  assist,  and  sent  assistance  to  him,  and  subsequently  by 
s.'ulitious  speeches  made,  or  caused  to  be  made,  in  public,  with  the  object  to 
persuade  and  induce  the  people  there  to  stand  by  tlie  aforementioned  Jameson 
in  his  hostile  invasion,  and  further  have  assisted  him,  the  aforementioned 
Jameson,  during  his  hostile  invasion  above  mentioned,  by  providing  him 
with  provisions,  forage,  and  horses. 

Thirdly  :  That  in  or  about  the  month  of  December,  in  the  year  aforesaid, 
and  in  the  month  of  January,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-six,  exact  dates  not  known  to  the  State  Attorney,  at  Johannesburg 
aforesaid,  they  (the  said  accused),  being  inhabitants  of,  and  residing  in,  this 
Republic,  all  and  each  or  one  or  more  of  them,  then  and  there,  in  conjunction 
with  Charles  Leonard  and  Dr.  H.  Wolif,  now  fugitives,  and  other  persons 
unknown  to  the  State  Attorney,  appearing  and  acting  as  a  committee  named 
by  them  the  'Reform  Committee,' wi-ongfidly  and  unlawfully,  and  with  a 
hostile  intention  to  disturb,  injure,  or  bring  into  danger  the  independence  or 
safety  of  this  Republic,  have  distributed,  or  caused  to  be  distributed,  amongst 
tlie  population  there,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  thereof,  Maxim  guns,  other 
weapons,  arms,  and  ammunition  ;  further,  have  enrolled  men,  or  have  caused 
them  to  be  enrolled,  and  have  formed  them,  or  have  caused  them  to  be 
formed,  into  military  cor^^s  ;  have  erected  there,  or  caused  to  be  erected, 
earthworks  and  other  fortilications. 

Fourthly  :  In  that  in  or  about  the  month  of  December  and  the  month  of 
January,  the  exact  dates  being  unknown  to  the  State  Attorney,  and  at  Johan- 
nesburg aforesaid  they  (the  said  accused),  being  citizens  of,  and  residing  in. 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  185 

this  Republic,  all  and  each  or  one  or  more  of  them,  then  and  there,  in  con- 
junction with  Charles  Leonard  and  Dr.  H.  Wolff,  now  fugitives,  and  other 
persons  unknown  to  the  State  Attorney,  appearing  and  acting  as  a  committee 
called  by  them  the  'Reform  Committee,'  wrongfully  and  unlawfully,  with 
hostile  intention  to  disturb,  injure,  or  bring  into  danger  the  independence  or 
safety  of  this  Republic,  have  arrogated  to  themselves,  and  have  exercised  and 
caused  to  be  exercised,  the  functions,  and  powers  belonging  to  the  authorities 
of  this  Republic  ;  by  violence,  or  by  threats  of  violence,  have  compelled,  or 
caused  to  be  compelled,  the  police  of  ihis  Republic  stationed  at  Johannesbiirg 
aforesaid  to  leave  the  public  squares  and  streets  ;  have  formed,  or  caused  to 
be  formed,  their  own  police  corps,  and  have  provided  that  corps,  or  caused  it 
to  be  provided,  with  guns  and  other  arms  ;  and  further  have  appointed,  or 
causea  to  be  appointed,  as  head  of  that  corpSj  Andrew  Trimble,  and  have 
entrusted  him  with  jurisdiction  in  police  cases,  in  virtue  whereof  the  afore- 
mentioned Andrew  Trimble  has  passed  sentence  and  caused  it  to  be  carried 
out. 

In  consequence  of  all  wliieh  acts  above-mentioned  the  independence  of  this 
countr}'^  was  brought  into  danger,  and  its  safety  disturbed  and  impaired. 

Wherefore  the  State  Attorney,  after  due  proof  and  conviction  thereof, 
requests  the  judgment  of  this  Court  against  said  accused,  according  to  law. 

The  general  opinion,  based  upon  the  character  of  the  evidence 
adduced  at  the  preliminary  examination,  was  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  sustain  the  charge  of  high  treason ;  but  the  disclosure  of 
the  documents  in  the  possession  of  the  State  Attorney  put  a  different 
complexion  upon  the  case.  Then  for  the  first  time  the  members  of 
the  Eeform  Committee  became  aware  of  that  factor  in  their  case  which 
has  since  become  famous  as  *  de  trommel  van  Bobby  White  ' — Major 
Robert  White's  despatch-box — a  veritable  conjurer's  hat,  from  which 
Mr.  Kruger  produced  to  an  admiring  and  astonished  world  the  political 
equivalents  of  eggs  and  gold-fish,  pigeons  and  white  mice.  In  this 
box  (wliich  was  taken  with  the  invading  force  at  Doornkop)  it  appears 
Major  White  had  brought  as  much  of  his  previous  correspondence  as 
he  could  conveniently  carry,  together  with  diaries,  note-books,  code- 
books,  cipher-keys,  etc.  Nor  was  this  all.  He  had  brought  a  copy  of 
the  letter  of  invitation,  certified  by  himself  as  magistrate  in  the 
Bechuanaland  Protectorate.  Revelations  at  and  subsequent  to  the  trial 
show  that  the  State  Attorney,  on  discovering  this  copy  and  finding  that 
as  a  copy  it  would  not  be  admitted,  and  that  he  might  experience  some 
difficulty  in  proving  it,  prevailed  upon  Major  White,  while  in  the 
Pretoria  gaol,  to  confirm  his  previous  certificate,  and  to  make  an 
affidavit  to  the  effect  that  he  had  compared  the  letter  with  the  original, 
that  it  was  a  true  copy,  and  that  he  had  examined  the  signatures,  and 
believed  them  to  be  the  signatures  of  the  persons  indicated.  The 
State  Attorney  alleges  that  he  bargained  with  Major  White  for  this 
affidavit,  and  in  return  surrendered  to  him  certain  private  documents 
which  had  also  been  taken  in  the  despatch-box.  Major  White,  on  the 
other  hand,  stated  to  the  writer  and  to  another  member  of  the  Reform 
Committee — Mr.  H.  C.  Hull — that  there  is  no  truth  in  the  allegation 


186  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

that  he  received  a  quid  pro  quo;  but  has  no  excuse  to  offer  for 
making  the  affidavit,  except  that  he  *  does  not  remember  having 
done iV 

The  Eeform  prisoners,  who,  animated  by  a  desire  not  to  give  any  of 
their  comrades  away,  had  for  a  period  of  close  upon  four  months  borne 
all  the  abuse  which  could  be  heaped  upon  them,  and  had  abstained 
from  making  any  defence  in  public,  or  any  of  those  revelations  such 
as  have  since  been  made  through  the  exertion  of  the  Transvaal 
authorities,  the  Select  Committee  of  the  Cape  House  of  Assembly,  and 
the  Bow  Street  officers,  found  to  their  inexpressible  disgust  that  the 
efforts  which  they  had  made  were  rendered  futile  by  the  capture  of 
these  documents  ;  and  they  were  highly  incensed  at  the  action  of  one 
of  the  very  men  whose  lives  they  beheved  they  had  saved  by  surrender- 
ing on  January  7.  The  affidavit  was  looked  upon  as  unpardonable, 
and  the  unnecessary  statement  regarding  the  genuineness  of  the  signa- 
tures was  interpreted  in  a  very  unpleasant  sense. 

Consultations  now  took  place  between  Mr.  Advocate  Wessels  and 
Mr.  Eichard  Solomon,  Q.C.,  of  Kimberley,  who  had  also  been  retained 
on  behalf  of  the  accused ;  and  endeavours  were  made  to  obtain  from 
the  State  Attorney  details  of  the  evidence  which  it  was  proposed  to 
bring,  but  with  only  partial  success.  From  the  facts  already  known  to 
them  it  was  clear  that  the  Government  were  determined  to  stretch 
every  point  in  law  to  their  own  advantage,  and  to  indulge  in  few 
scruples  as  to  the  means  to  be  employed  to  secure  a  conviction.  The 
Judge,  it  was  known,  had  been  specially  imported  for  this  trial,  and 
provisionally  appointed  to  a  seat  on  the  Bench.  As  the  confirmation 
of  his  appointment  was  to  take  place  when  the  Volksraad  should  meet, 
or  at  any  rate  at  some  period  subsequent  to  the  trial,  it  was  not 
unnatiu-al  to  regard  his  as  a  case  in  which  a  judge  was  appointed  on 
approval,  the  appointment  to  be  either  confirmed  or  cancelled  according 
to  the  satisfaction  which  he  should  give. 

Appeal  to  the  full  bench  of  the  High  Court  had  already  been  proved 
to  be  entirely  useless ;  since  the  only  judges  to  whom  appeal  could  be 
made  were  those  who  had  in  the  earlier  stages  associated  themselves 
with  the  Government  against  the  Keform  Committee,  and  later  on  in 
their  judicial  capacities  confirmed  the  attitude  taken  up  by  them  as 
patriots. 

The  options  before  the  prisoners  were  therefore  three  in  number. 
One  course  would  be  to  enter  upon  a  protracted  trial  before  a  Boer 
jury  and  a  specially- appointed  judge,  with  the  certainty  for  the  majority 
of  an  adverse  verdict  in  any  case.  In  such  a  trial  numberless  occa- 
sions would  arise  for  the  exercise  of  discretion  in  the  admission  or 
rejection  of  evidence,  and  any  defence  of  the  prisoners  must  necessarily 
partake  of  the  character  of  an  indictment  against  the  Government  and 
the  faction  which  both  judge  and  jury  avowedly  represented,  and  tend 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  187 

only  to  aggravate  the  penalty.  They  would  moreover  have  to  face 
that  trial  as  a  body  of  over  sixty  men,  many  of  whom  could  have 
reasonably  set  up  special  defences,  many  of  whom  were  not  even  men- 
tioned in  any  evidence  which  the  Government  had  yet  secured  (with 
the  exception,  of  course,  of  Judge  Ameshof's  j^rwiZe^et^  list),  and  could 
therefore  reasonably  expect  to  be  discharged  on  making  individual 
defences.  The  second  alternative  was  to  decline  to  plead  at  all,  on  the 
ground  that  they  had  negotiated  with  the  Government  in  good  faith, 
and  that  a  treacherous  arrest  and  breach  of  understandings  arrived  at 
would  not  be  recognised  in  any  way  by  them — in  fact,  to  refuse  to 
condone  treachery  or  take  a  hand  in  a  farce.  The  third  course  was  to 
plead  guilty,  and  take  a  short  cut  on  the  best  terms  possible  to  what 
was  realized  to  be  a  pre-arranged  conclusion. 

The  second  alternative  was  rejected,  because  it  v/as  found  to  be 
impossible  to  secure  unanimity  of  action.  In  the  course  of  the  discus- 
sions upon  the  other  alternatives,  certain  negotiations  took  place 
between  the  State  Attorney,  Dr.  Coster,  and  Mr.  Wessels,  the  result 
of  which  was  that  Dr.  Coster  made  the  following  offer :  If  the  leaders 
(the  signatories  to  tlie  letter  of  invitation)  would  consent  to  plead 
guilty  to  count  1  of  the  indictment,  he  would  agree  to  withdraw  as 
against  them  counts  2,  3,  and  4 ;  and  in  such  case  he  would  agree  that 
the  rank  and  file  should  plead  guilty  to  counts  3  and  4  only,  he  with- 
drawing as  against  them  counts  1  and  2.  The  matter  was  discussed 
by  the  prisoners,  and  objection  was  taken  to  that  part  of  the  indictment 
in  which  it  was  stated  that  the  Reform  Committee  had  acted  *  vsrith  a 
hostile  intention  to  disturb,  injure,  or  bring  into  danger  the  independ- 
ence or  safety  of  this  Republic' 

Another  meeting  took  place  between  the  State  Attorney  and  Mr. 
Wessels,  at  which  Dr.  Coster  agreed  to  eliminate  from  the  indictment 
against  the  rank  and  file  the  words  objected  to,  provided  that  the 
leaders  would  plead  guilty  to  count  1.  Having  arrived  at  this — to 
him — satisfactory  conclusion.  Dr.  Coster  remarked  that  they  {i.e.,  all 
except  the  four)  were  now  charged  with  a  merely  nominal  offence. 
Mr.  Wessels  endeavoured  to  obtain  the  same  alteration  in  the  indict- 
ment of  the  leaders,  but  this  was  refused  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
make  the  indictment  ridiculous  ;  and,  apropos  of  the  concession  to  the 
rank  and  file.  Dr.  Coster  even  expressed  doubts  as  to  whether,  if  the 
hostile  intention  were  eliminated,  any  crime  could  be  said  to  remain 
under  the  indictment.  He  however  agreed  to  allow  the  four  leaders 
to  qualify  their  plea  by  a  statement  in  writing,  which  they  were  to  put 
in  at  the  same  time.  He  stated  that  he  would  have  pro  forma  to  put 
in  some  evidence  of  the  offence,  but  undertook  not  to  press  for  exem- 
plary punishment,  and  moreover  promised  that  he  would  not  dispute 
or  question  the  statement  to  be  put  in,  provided  that  it  contained  no 
material  error  in  fact. 


188  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

A  discussion  then  followed  as  to  the  law  under  which  the  trial  would 
take  place.  Mr.  Wessels  urged  that,  as  there  was  specific  provision  in 
the  statute  law  for  cases  of  this  nature,  the  statute  law  would  of  course 
apply  in  preference  to  Koman-Dutch  law.  Dr.  Coster  said  he  pre- 
sumed that  this  would  be  the  case,  but  that  he  was  not  quite  sure 
whether  Eoman-Dutch  law  would  not  apply.  He  added,  however, 
that  anything  he  could  say  would  not  be  binding  upon  the  judge,  who 
could  alone  decide  as  to  the  question  of  law. 

Mr.  Wessels's  report  to  his  clients  induced  the  rank  and  file  to  agree 
under  the  altered  circumstances  to  the  third  alternative,  namely, 
pleading  guilty,  and  they  agreed  to  this  under  the  impression,  which 
without  doubt  had  been  suggested  and  deliberately  fostered  by  the 
Government,  that  they  were  pleading  guilty  to  a  nominal  offence,  and 
would  incur  a  monetary  penalty  in  proportion. 

In  consultation  with  the  leaders,  Mr.  "Wessels  reported  the  discus- 
sions with  Dr.  Coster  as  above  given.  Both  he  and  Mr.  Solomon 
represented  to  them  the  gravity  of  the  plea,  and  said  that  there  was 
the  possibility  that  the  judge  would  invoke  Eoman-Dutch  law  and 
ignore  the  laws  of  the  country,  in  which  case  it  would  be  in  his  power 
to  pass  sentence  of  death.  In  their  opinion,  they  added,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Eose  Innes  and  others,  this  would  be  a  monstrous 
straining  of  the  law,  yet  they  felt  bound  to  indicate  the  possibility. 

The  course  before  the  prisoners  was  not,  indeed,  an  attractive  one, 
but  it  was  not  without  its  recommendations.  It  would  have  been 
infinitely  preferable  to  fight  it  out  had  there  been  a  chance  of  a  good 
fight,  if  even  a  losing  one ;  but,  apart  from  a  verdict  of  guilty  being  an 
absolute  certaintj',  the  circumstances  were  against  any  possibility  of 
effecting  anything  like  a  strong  impeachment  of  the  Government. 
Moreover,  the  course  now  proposed  would  prevent  any  *  giving  away ' 
of  Dr.  Jameson,  who  had  yet  to  be  tried,  and  of  others ;  and  it  also 
removed  the  necessity  for  individual  defences  by  those  among  the 
prisoners  who  had  been  involved  in  a  less  degree  than  others.  The 
matter  at  that  time  appeared  in  one  way  to  concern  the  leaders  only. 
If  they  were  willing  to  take  upon  themselves  the  burden  of  the  charge 
and  secure  the  acquittal  of  others  by  accepting  the  full  responsibility, 
it  could  only  be  regarded  as  a  chivalrous  act.  But  there  were  some 
among  the  other  prisoners — '  Irreconcilables,'  as  they  were  called — 
who  considered  themselves  equally  responsible  with  the  leaders,  v/ho 
strongly  objected  to  shifting  any  portion  of  their  responsibility  upon 
others,  and  who  desired  to  stand  with  those  who  were  prepared  to 
bear  the  brunt  of  the  charge.  To  them  the  suggestion  to  plead  guilty 
was  as  gall  and  wormwood,  and  was  regarded  as  another  humiliation 
which  they  were  required  to  endure,  another  climbing- down  similar  to 
the  disarmament,  and  attended,  like  it,  with  exasperating  and  baffling 
complications  and  involvements  that  made  refusal   an  impossibility. 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  189 

The  one  call  to  which  these  men  would  respond  was  the  call  to  stand 
together  and  have  no  divisions — a  cause  for  which  they  were  still  to 
make  many  sacrifices.  The  irony  of  it  was,  that  in  order  to  '  stand 
together '  they  had  to  agree  to  segregation. 

Dr.  Coster  would  accept  no  further  modification  or  variation  of  his 
terms — there  was  no  option  to  individuals  to  plead  not  guilty  and 
fight  it  out,  except  at  the  cost  of  involving  all  the  others,  nor  was  there 
any  option  to  them  to  plead  with  the  leaders.  One  other  factor  in  the 
determination  of  this  policy  remains  to  be  noted.  The  communications 
already  recorded  as  having  passed  between  some  of  the  members  of  the 
Reform  Committee  and  Dr.  Jameson,  after  the  latter  had  actually 
invaded  the  country,  and  some  evidence  as  to  the  arrangements  made 
for  the  reception  and  camping  of  his  force,  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Government,  and  these  were  sufficient  to  convict  every  member  of  the 
Reform  Committee  under  count  2  of  the  indictment  in  a  trial  before  a 
Boer  jury  and  by  a  special  judge.  Conviction  under  count  1  was 
assured  by  the  letter  of  invitation  and  the  admissions  in  the  '  privileged  ' 
meeting  with  the  Government  Commission.  Conviction  under  count  2 
would  be  a  distinct  aggravation  of  the  position  of  the  four — or  so  it 
seemed  then — whilst  it  would  be  a  most  serious  thing  for  the  rank  and 
file ;  and  it  was  finally  decided  to  plead  in  accordance  with  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  State  Attorney.  The  decision  was  conveyed  to  this 
gentleman,  and  by  him  to  the  President,  who  expressed  his  *  satis- 
faction '  at  a  course  which  would  enable  him  to  '  deal  magnanimously 
with  the  prisoners,'  no  doubt  in  pursuance  of  the  policy  of  '  Forget  and 
Forgive.'  When,  as  a  convincing  proof  of  the  wisdom  of  the  decision 
to  plead  guilty,  the  '  satisfaction '  of  the  President  was  made  known  to 
the  Irreconcilables,  they  remarked  that  this  was  the  worst  sign  that 
they  had  yet  detected,  but  others  were  more  hopeful. 

As  to  the  soundness  of  the  advice  on  which  the  prisoners  pleaded,  it 
may  be  observed  that  Messrs.  Gregorowski  and  Coster  have  both,  since 
then,  expressed  the  opinion  that  there  was  sufiiciont  evidence  to  convict 
one  and  all  of  high  treason,  and  they  should  know  what  would  have 
been  considered  '  sufficient.'  The  latter  added  that  the  prime  movers 
were  of  course  guilty ;  but  they  at  any  rate  had  tried  to  stop  Jameson, 
whilst  those  who  joined  the  Reform  Committee  in  the  later  stages 
were  morally  worse,  since  they  had  only  joined  when  and  because 
they  knew  that  he  had  invaded  the  country.  Mr.  Gregorowski,  at  a 
later  stage,  defended  his  sentence  on  the  leaders,  but  feared  he  had 
been  '  far  too  lenient  with  the  others.'  It  would  be  unfair,  therefore, 
to  suggest  that  the  advice  on  which  the  prisoners  bad  decided  to  act 
was  other  than  sound,  wise,  and  proper  in  the  circumstances.  That  it 
should  afterwards  appear  that  the  other  parties  to  the  arrangement 
had  acted  with  deliberate  duplicity  and  bad  faith  cannot  be  laid  as  a 
charge  against  the  gentlemen  who  gave  this  advice,  and  whose  only 


190  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

fault,  if  fault  it  be,  was  that  their  instincts,  their  principles,  and  their 
training  precluded  the  suspicion  of  treachery. 

The  trial  commenced  on  April  24,  when  the  prisoners  were  arraigned, 
after  which  an  adjournment  was  made  until  the  27th,  in  order  to  allow 
three  of  the  prisoners  who  were  then  travelling  up  to  take  their  trial 
to  arrive.  On  the  latter  date,  all  being  present,  and  pleas  of  guilty 
having  been  recorded,  the  State  Attorney  put  in  the  cipher  telegrams, 
the  minutes  of  the  '  privileged '  meeting  between  the  Government 
Commission  and  the  deputation  of  the  Reform  Committee,  none  of 
which  had  been  produced  in  evidence,  and  the  record  of  evidence  taken 
at  the  preliminary  examination.  Mr.  "Wessels  then  read  and  put  in 
the  following  statement  of  the  four  leaders : 

For  a  number  of  years  endeavours  have  been  made  to  obtain  by  constitu- 
tional means  the  redress  of  the  grievances  under  which  the  Uitlander 
population  labours.  The  new-comer  asked  for  no  more  than  is  conceded  to 
emigi-ants  by  all  the  other  Governments  in  South  Africa,  under  which  every  man 
may,  on  reasonable  conditions,  become  a  citizen  of  the  State ;  whilst  hero 
alone  a  policy  is  pursued  by  which  the  first  settlers  retain  the  exclusive  right 
of  government. 

Petitions  supported  by  the  signatures  of  some  40,000  men  were  ignored  ; 
and  when  it  was  found  that  we  could  not  get  a  fair  and  reasonable  hearing, 
that  provisions  already  deemed  obnoxious  and  unfair  were  being  made  more 
stringent,  and  that  we  were  being  debarred  for  ever  from  obtaining  the 
righte  which  in  other  countries  are  freely  granted,  it  was  realized  that  we 
would  never  get  redress  until  we  should  make  a  demonstration  of  force  to 
support  our  claims. 

Certain  provision  was  made  regarding  arms  and  ammunition,  and  a  letter 
was  wTitten  to  Dr.  Jameson,  in  which  he  was  asked  to  come  to  our  aid  under 
certain  circumstances. 

On  December  26  the  Uitlanders'  Manifesto  was  published,  and  it  was  then 
our  intention  to  make  a  final  appeal  for  redress  at  the  public  meeting  which 
was  to  have  been  held  on  January  6.  In  consequence  of  matters  that  came  to 
our  knowledge,  we  sent  on  December  26  Major  Heany  (by  train  via  Kimberley) 
and  Captain  Holden  across  coimtry,  to  forbid  any  movement  on  Dr.  Jame- 
son's part. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  December  30,  we  learnt  from  Government 
sources  that  Dr.  Jameson  had  crossed  the  frontier.  We  assumed  that  he  had 
come  in  good  faith  to  help  us,  probably  misled  by  some  of  the  exaggerated 
rumours  which  were  then  in  circulation.  We  were  convinced,  however,  that 
the  Government  and  the  burghers  would  not  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment 
believe  that  we  had  not  invited  Dr.  Jameson  in,  and  there  was  no  course  open 
to  us  but  to  prepare  to  defend  ourselves  if  we  were  attacked,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  spare  no  etibrt  to  effect  a  peaceful  settlement. 

It  became  necessary  to  form  some  organization  for  the  protection  of  the 
town  and  the  maintenance  of  order  ;  since,  in  the  excitement  caused  by  the 
news  of  Dr.  Jameson's  coming,  serious  disturbances  would  be  likely  to  occur, 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  Government  organization  could  not  deal  with  the 
people  without  serious  risks  of  conflict. 

The  Reform  Committee  was  formed  on  Monday  night,  December  30,  and  it 
was  intended  to  include  such  men  of  influence  as  cared  to  associate  themselves 
with  the  movement.  The  object  with  which  it  was  formed  is  best  shown  by 
its  first  notice,  viz. : 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  191 

'  Notice  is  hereby  given  that  this  Committee  adheres  to  the  National 
Union  Manifesto,  and  reiterates  its  desire  to  maintain  the  independence  of  the 
Republic.  The  fact  that  rumours  are  in  course  of  circulation  to  the  effect 
that  a  force  has  crossed  the  Bechnanaland  border  renders  it  necessary  to  take 
active  steps  for  the  defence  of  Johannesburg  and  preservation  of  order.  The 
Committee  earnestly  desire  that  the  inhabitants  should  refrain  from  taking 
any  action  which  can  be  construed  as  an  overt  act  of  hostility  against  the 
Government.     By  order  of  the  Committee 

'  J.  Percy  Fitzpatiuck, 

Secretary.' 

The  evidence  taken  at  the  preliminary  examination  will  show  that  order 
was  maintained  by  this  Committee  during  a  time  of  intense  excitement,  and 
through  the  action  of  the  Committee  no  aggressive  steps  whatever  were  taken 
against  the  Government,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  property  of  the  Government 
was  protected,  and  its  officials  were  not  interfered  with. 

It  is  our  firm  belief  that  had  no  such  Committee  been  formed,  the  intense 
excitement  caused  by  Dr.  Jameson's  entry  would  have  brought  about  utter 
chaos  in  Johannesburg. 

It  has  been  alleged  that  we  armed  natives.  This  is  absolutely  untrue,  and 
is  disposed  of  by  the  fact  that  during  the  crisis  upwards  of  20,000  white  men 
applied  to  us  for  arms  and  were  unable  to  get  them. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  December  31,  we  hoisted  the  flag  of  the  Z.A.R.,  and 
every  man  bound  himself  to  maintain  the  independence  of  the  Republic.  On 
the  same  day  the  Government  withdrew  its  police  voluntarily  from  the  town 
and  we  preserved  perfect  order. 

During  the  evening  of  that  day,  Messrs,  Marais  and  Malan  presented 
themselves  as  delegates  from  the  Executive  Council.  They  came  (to  use  their 
own  words)  to  '  offer  us  the  olive-branch, '  and  they  told  us  that  if  we  would 
send  a  deputation  to  Pretoria  to  meet  a  Commission  appointed  by  the 
Government,  we  should  probably  obtain  *  practically  all  that  we  asked  for  in 
the  Manifesto.' 

Our  deputation  met  the  Government  Commission,  consisting  of  Chief  Justice 
Kotz^,  Judge  Ameshof,  and  Mr.  Kock,  member  of  the  Executive. 

On  our  behalf,  our  deputation  frankly  avowed  knowledge  of  Jameson's 
presence  on  the  border,  and  of  his  intention,  by  written  arrangement  with  us, 
to  assist  us  in  case  of  extremity. 

With  the  full  knowledge  of  this  arrangement,  Avith  the  knowledge  that  we 
were  in  arms  and  agitating  for  our  rights,  the  Government  Commission 
handed  to  us  a  resolution  by  the  Executive  Council,  of  which  the  following 
is  the  purport : 

'  The  High  Commissioner  has  offered  his  services  with  a  view  to  a  peaceful 
settlement.  The  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic  has  accepted  his 
offer.  Pending  his  arrival,  no  hostile  step  will  be  taken  against  Johannesburg, 
provided  Johannesburg  takes  no  hostile  action  against  the  Government.  In 
terms  of  a  certain  proclamation  recently  issued  by  the  President,  the  grievances 
will  be  earnestly  considered.' 

We  acted  in  perfect  good  faith  with  the  Government,  believing  it  to  be 
their  desire,  as  it  was  ours,  to  avert  bloodshed,  and  believing  it  to  be  their 
intention  to  give  us  the  redress  which  was  implied  in  the  *  earnest  considera- 
tion of  grievances.' 

There  can  be  no  better  evidence  of  our  earnest  endeavour  to  repair  what  we 
regarded  as  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Jameson  than  the  following  offer, 
which  our  deputation,  authorized  by  resolution  of  the  Committee,  laid  before 
the  Government  Commission : 


192  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

'  If  the  Government  will  permit  Dr.  Jameson  to  come  into  Johannesburg 
unmolested,  the  Committee  will  guarantee,  with  their  persons  if  necessary, 
that  he  will  leave  again  peacefully  as  soon  as  possible,' 

We  faithfully  carried  out  the  agreement  that  we  should  commit  no  act  of 
hostility  against  the  Government ;  we  ceased  all  active  operations  for  the 
defence  of  the  town  against  any  attack,  and  we  did  everything  in  our  power 
to  prevent  any  collision  with  the  burghers — an  attempt  in  which  our  efforts 
were  happily  successful. 

On  the  telegraphic  advice  of  the  result  of  the  interview  of  the  deputation 
with  the  Government  Commission,  we  despatched  Mr.  Lace,  a  member  of  our 
Committee,  as  an  escort  to  the  courier  carrying  the  High  Commissioner's 
despatch  to  Dr.  Jameson,  in  order  to  assure  ourselves  that  the  despatch  would 
reach  its  destination. 

On  the  following  Saturday,  January  4,  the  High  Commissioner  arrived  in 
Pretoria.     On  Monday,  the  sixth,  the  following  telegram  was  sent  to  us  : 

'  Pretoria,  January  6,  1896. 
^  From  H.M.'s  Agent  to  Refokm  Committee,  Johannesburg. 
January  6. — I  am  directed  to  inform  you  that  the  High  Commissioner 
met  the  President,  the  Executive,  and  the  Judges  to-day.  The  President 
announced  the  decision  of  the  Government  to  be  that  Johannesburg  must  lay 
down  its  arms  unconditionally  as  a  [condition]  precedent  to  a  discussion  and 
consideration  of  grievances.  The  High  Commissioner  endeavoured  to  obtain 
some  indication  of  the  steps  which  would  be  taken  in  the  event  of  disarma- 
ment, but  without  success,  it  being  intimated  that  the  Government  had 
nothing  more  to  say  on  this  subject  than  had  already  been  embodied  in  the 
President's  proclamation.  The  High  Commissioner  inquired  whether  any 
decision  had  been  come  to  as  regards  tlie  disposal  of  the  prisoners,  and 
received  a  reply  in  the  negative.  The  President  said  that  as  his  burghers,  to 
the  number  of  8,000,  had  been  collected,  and  could  not  be  asked  to  remain 
indefinitely,  he  must  request  a  reply,  "Yes"  or  "No,"  to  this  ultimatum 
within  twenty-four  hours.' 

On  the  following  day  Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet,  H.M.'s  Agent,  met  us  in  com- 
mittee, and  handed  to  us  the  following  wire  from  his  Excellency  the  High 
Commissioner : 

'High  Commissioner,  Pretoria,  to  Sir  J.  de  Wet,  Johannesburg. 

Received  Johannesburg  7.36  a.m.,  January  7,  1896. 

*  Urgent — You  should  inform  the  Johannesburg  people  that  I  consider  that 
if  they  lay  down  their  arms  they  will  be  acting  loyally  and  honourably,  and 
that  if  they  do  not  comply  with  my  request  they  forfeit  all  claim  to  symimthy 
from  Her  Majesty's  Government,  and  from  British  subjects  throughout  the 
world,  as  the  lives  of  Jameson  and  prisoners  are  practically  in  their  hands.' 

On  this,  and  the  assurance  given  in  the  Executive  Council  resolution,  we 
laid  down  our  arms  on  January  6,  7,  and  8  ;  on  the  9th  we  were  arrested,  and 
have  since  been  under  arrest  at  Pretoria,  a  period  of  three  and  a  half  months. 

We  admit  responsibility  for  the  action  taken  by  us.  We  frankly  avowed 
it  at  the  time  of  the  negotiations  with  the  Government  when  we  were  informed 
that  the  services  of  the  High  Commissioner  had  been  accepted  with  a  view  to 
a  peaceful  settlement. 

We  submit  that  we  kept  faith  in  every  detail  in  the  arrangement  with  the 
Government ;  that  we  dia  all  that  was  humanly  possible  to  protect  both  the 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  193 

State  and  Dr.  Jameson  from  the  consequence  of  his  action ;  that  we  have 
committed  no  breach  of  the  law  which  was  not  known  to  the  Government  at 
the  time  that  the  earnest  consideration  of  our  grievances  was  promised. 

"We  can  only  now  lay  the  bare  facts  before  the  Court,  and  submit  to  the 
judgment  that  may  be  passed  upon  us. 

(Signed)        Lionel  Phillips. 

Fkanois  Rhodes. 

Pretoria,  April  24,  1896.  George  Faiihar. 

I  entirely  concur  with  the  above  statement. 

(Signed)        John  Hays  Hammond. 
Pretoria,  April  27,  1896. 

An  incident  which  occurred  during  the  reading  of  this  statement 
enabled  the  prisoners  to  realize  how  poor  would  have  been  their  chance 
of  a  fair  trial  before  a  Boer  jury.  On  the  right  hand  of  the  judge 
seats  had  been  reserved  for  high  officials.  Several  members  of  the 
Executive  were  present  in  this  quarter,  and  amongst  them,  in  a  very 
prominent  position  and  facing  the  quarter  reserved  for  the  burghers 
sat  Mr.  Wolmarans,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council.  When  Mr 
Wessels  came  to  that  portion  of  the  statement  referring  to  the  negotia 
tions  with  the  Executive  Council,  Mr.  Wolmarans  at  first  smiled  super 
cihously,  then  turned  and  addressed  a  remark  to  one  of  his  colleagues 
shrugging  his  shoulder  at  the  same  tune,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
reference  looked  across  the  room  to  where  the  jurymen  sat,  still  smihng 
and  shaking  his  head  slowly  and  continuously  for  half  a  minute.  To 
men  accustomed  to  the  decencies  of  British  Courts  of  Justice  this 
incident  was  rather  revolting.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the 
Government  refused  to  produce  the  minute  referred  to,  and  that 
through  their  representatives  they  claimed  '  privilege '  for  the  inter- 
view at  which  it  was  given,  in  order  to  absolve  themselves  from  appear- 
ing in  Court,  and  that  Mr.  Wolmarans  himself  sent  the  message  to  the 
Rand  thai  the  Government,  by  the  withdrawal  of  its  police,  gave 
practical  evidence  of  holding  out  the  olive-branch,  his  conduct  appears 
the  more  unprincipled. 

The  State  Attorney,  in  a  purely  formal  address,  in  consonance  with 
his  promise  to  Mr.  Wessels  not  to  seek  exemplary  punishment,  asked 
for  punishment  according  to  law.  Mr.  Wessels,  in  reply,  made  an 
eloquent  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  accused,  and  cited  the  circumstances 
which  led  to  their  seeking  redress  in  the  manner  in  which  they  did. 
He  referred  to  the  negotiations  with  the  Government,  to  the  part 
played  by  the  Reform  Committee  in  the  maintenance  of  order,  to  the 
fidelity  with  which  they  had  fulfilled  their  undertakings  with  the 
Government,  and  to  their  attitude  towards  Dr.  Jameson.  His  re- 
ferences to  the  Government  and  to  the  existing  abuses  were  made  as 
judiciously  as  possible.  He  referred  candidly  to  the  relationship  with 
Dr.  Jameson,  especially  alluding  to  the  efforts  made  to  protect  him 

18 


194  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

from  the  results  of  his  own  action,  and  to  stand  by  him  even  at  the 
cost  of  personal  sacrifice,  and  claimed  that  such  action  towards  their 
former  colleague  within  the  limits  set  by  them  did  not  necessarily 
imply  treason  against  the  independence  of  the  State,  but  should  fairly 
entitle  the  prisoners  to  sympathy  for  their  efforts  to  save  a  quondam 
colleague,  however  wrong  he  might  have  been.  On  the  point  of  law, 
Mr.  Wessels  claimed  that  the  Thirty-three  Articles  formed  the  basis  of 
the  State's  law,  that  there  was  specific  provision  for  such  cases  as  this 
in  those  Articles,  and  that  the  punishment  to  be  meted  out  to  the 
prisoners  should  be,  in  accordance  with  these  statutes,  modified  as  the 
Court  in  its  judgment  might  deem  fit. 

No  sooner  had  Mr.  Wessels  resumed  his  seat  than  Dr.  Coster,  as 
was  then  thought,  repenting  the  fulfilment  of  his  promise  and  casting 
off  all  disguise,  or,  as  is  more  probable,  carried  away  by  an  over- 
mastering excitement  and  strong  personal  and  racial  feeling,  and 
stimulated  by  concentration  upon  one  aspect  only  of  the  case,  claimed 
the  right  to  address  the  Court  again  after  the  advocate  for  the  defence 
had  spoken.  Dr.  Coster  has  the  reputation  among  those  who  know 
him  of  being  a  thoroughly  honourable  and  straightforward  gentleman. 
As  a  Hollander  no  doubt  he  felt  deeply  in  a  matter  in  which  Hol- 
landerism  was  the  casus  belli — as  public  prosecutor  it  was  his  duty  to 
prosecute,  not  to  judge  ;  and  one  prefers  to  think  that  in  peculiar  and 
trying  circumstances  he  forgot  the  pledge  he  had  given  and  remem- 
bered only  the  cause  of  his  party.  In  a  short  but  very  violent  speech 
he  depicted  in  the  blackest  terms  the  actions  of  the  men  against  whom 
he  had  agreed  not  to  seek  exemplary  punishment,  and  pointing  out 
the  provisions  of  the  Roman-Dutch  law,  claimed  that  the  Court  should 
apply  it  in  this  case  in  preference  to  the  statutes  of  the  country,  and 
demanded  from  the  Court  the  severest  possible  penalty  which  could  be 
imposed  under  that  Law  and  under  the  Thirty-three  Articles  and  the 
Gold  Law  as  well.  With  reference  to  the  last-named,  Dr.  Coster, 
having  mentioned  the  provision  regarding  the  confiscation  of  property, 
said  that  upon  this  point  he  would  not  speak,  but  would  leave  the 
matter  to  the  judgment  of  the  Court.  The  Court  was  then  adjourned 
until  the  morning  of  the  28th,  ostensibly  in  order  to  enable  the  judge 
to  consider  the  evidence  and  make  up  his  mind. 

The  majority  of  the  prisoners,  utterly  unsuspicious  of  what  lay 
before  them,  made  all  necessary  arrangements  to  return  to  their  homes 
and  avocations  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  trial,  believing  that  a  nominal 
fine  would  be  the  penalty  imposed.  Many  of  them  had  taken  return 
tickets  -from  Johannesburg  available  for  two  days.  The  public 
thoroughout  the  Transvaal  and  South  Africa  anticipated  nothing  more 
than  a  nominal  punishment  upon  the  majority,  and  a  fine  of  a  few 
thousand  pounds  upon  the  signatories  to  the  letter  of  invitation. 

Some  of  the  prisoners,  however,  were  better  informed.     News  had 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  195 

been  obtained  some  days  before  the  trial  commenced  that  extra  accom- 
modation was  being  prepared  in  the  gaol,  avowedly  to  provide  for  the 
Reformers.  Two  of  the  accused  visited  the  gaol  and  verified  this. 
Others  of  the  accused,  few  in  number,  were  informed  by  personal 
friends,  who  had  special  means  of  getting  information  in  Pretoria,  that 
imprisonment  would  be  the  lot  of  all,  and  that  the  punishment  on  the 
leaders  would  be  extremely  severe ;  and  they  provided  for  this  con- 
tingency accordingly.  The  manager  of  the  Government  newspaper  in 
Pretoria  informed  two  or  three  of  those  interested  that  the  sentence 
of  death  would  be  passed  upon  the  four  leaders,  as  this  had  been 
arranged  ;  and  men  closely  associated  with  the  leaders  themselves  had 
been  confidentially  informed  beforehand  that  it  was  the  intention  of 
the  Government  to  pass  sentence  of  death,  and  that  the  matter  was  a 
cut-and- dried  one.  The  information  was  given  with  a'  view  to  preparing 
the  prisoners  for  what  awaited  them. 

On  approaching  the  temporary  Court-house  (the  Pretoria  Market 
Buildings  having  been  altered  for  this  purpose)  on  the  morning  of  the 
sentence,  it  was  perfectly  evident  that  some  serious  development  was 
afoot.  The  town  was  thronged  with  mounted  burghers.  State  artillery, 
and  mounted  and  foot  police.  Every  approach  to  the  Court  was 
guarded  and  the  streets  patrolled.  Most  of  the  population  of  Pretoria 
were  gathered  in  the  Market  Square,  endeavouring  to  gain  admittance 
to  the  Court.  The  prisoners  were  arranged  in  their  former  places  in  a 
special  quarter  of  the  building  railed  off  for  the  purpose,  with  the 
exception  of  Messrs.  Phillips,  Farrar,  Rhodes  and  Hammond,  who 
were  separated  from  the  rest  and  placed  in  a  special  movable  dock, 
which  had  been  carried  in  over  the  heads  of  the  people  after  the  hour 
appointed  for  the  sitting  of  the  Court.  The  appearance  of  this  dock 
was  recognised  by  all  to  be  ominous,  but  some  relief  from  the  feeling 
of  foreboding  was  experienced  when  Judge  Gregorowski,  after  taking 
his  seat,  was  observed  to  smile  several  times,  and  to  make  some  jocular 
remark  to  one  of  the  officials  of  the  Court.  The  faces  of  the  officials, 
however,  damped  any  hopes  that  were  built  upon  the  judge's  genial 
appearance. 

Many  of  these  gentlemen  were  personal  and  intimate  friends  of  the 
prisoners :  some  were  connected  by  closer  ties  ;  and  one  of  the  most 
trying  experiences  for  the  prisoners  was  to  witness  the  complete  break- 
down of  the  minor  officials  employed  in  the  carrying  out  of  this  tragic 
farce.  The  judge's  first  order  was  for  the  removal  of  all  ladies.  The 
wives  and  relatives  of  many  of  the  prisoners  had  been  warned  by  them 
beforehand  of  what  was  likely  to  happen,  and  had  accordingly  absented 
themselves,  but  there  were  nevertheless  a  good  number  of  ladies 
present.  Judge  Gregorowski  then  took  the  case  in  hand,  passed  in 
review  the  circumstances,  and  dealt  with  much  of  the  evidence, 
including  that  taken  at  the  preliminary  examination,  and  the  docu- 

13—2 


196  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

ments  put  in  by  Government  which  had  not  yet  been  seen  by  the 
prisoners'  advisers.  He  made  no  reference  to  the  statement  of  the 
principal  accused,  subject  to  which  their  plea  of  guilty  had  been  made 
and  accepted.  He  reviewed  the  law,  and  by  a  method  of  reasoning 
which  has  not  commended  itself  to  others,  he  justified  himself  for 
setting  aside  special  statutes  and  applying  the  Koman-Dutch  law 
instead.  In  conclusion,  he  stated  that  he  held  the  signatories  of  the 
letter  to  be  directly  responsible  for  the  shedding  of  the  burghers'  blood 
at  Doornkop,  that  he  would  therefore  pass  upon  them  the  only  punisJi- 
ment  possible  under  Eoman-Dutch  law — namely,  death;  and  that 
whatever  hope  there  might  be  in  the  merciful  hearts  of  the  Executive 
Council  and  in  the  President's  great  magnanimity,  they  should  re- 
member that  in  no  other  country  would  they  have  the  slightest  grounds 
for  hope.  The  usual  question  as  to  whether  there  were  any  reasons 
why  sentence  of  death  should  not  be  passed  upon  them  having  been 
put,  and  the  usual  reply  in  the  negative  having  been  received,  in  the 
midst  of  silence  that  was  only  disturbed  by  the  breaking  down  of 
persons  in  various  parts  of  the  hall — officials,  burghers,  and  in  the 
general  public — sentence  of  death  was  passed,  first  on  Mr.  Lionel 
PhiUips,  next  on  Colonel  Ehodes,  then  on  Mr.  George  Farrar,  and 
lastly  on  Mr.  Hammond.  The  bearing  of  the  four  men  won  for  them 
universal  sympathy  and  approval,  especially  under  the  conditions 
immediately  following  the  death  sentence,  when  a  most  painful  scone 
took  place  in  Court.  Evidences  of  feeling  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
room  and  from  all  classes  of  people  :  from  those  who  conducted  the 
defence,  and  from  the  Boers  who  were  to  have  constituted  the  jury. 
The  interpreter  translating  the  sentence  broke  down.  Many  of  the 
minor  officials  lost  control  of  themselves,  and  feelings  were  further 
strained  by  the  incident  of  one  man  falling  insensible. 

Sentence  was  next  passed  upon  the  other  prisoners.  They  were 
condemned  to  suffer  two  years'  imprisonment,  to  pay  a  fine  of  ^2,000 
each,  or  as  an  alternative  suffer  another  year's  imprisonment,  and 
thereafter  to  be  banished  from  the  State  for  a  period  of  three  years. 
It  was  added  that  the  question  of  confiscation  of  their  property  would 
be  one  for  the  Executive  to  deal  with. 

The  action  of  Mr.  Gregorowski  has  been  variously  described,  but  at 
no  time  more  graphically  than  at  the  time  of  the  sentence,  when  a 
sergeant  of  police  who  was  guarding  the  prisoners  exclaimed,  in  the 
peculiar  Dutch  idiom :  *  My  God  1  he  is  like  a  dog :  he  has  bitten  and 
chewed  and  guzzled  1' 

After  passing  the  minor  sentences,  the  judge  gave  a  short  address 
to  the  burghers,  in  which  he  thanked  them  for  their  attendance,  and 
made  allusion  with  evident  signs  of  satisfaction  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  trial  had  been  brought  to  a  conclusion.  A  long  delay 
followed,  during  which  the  judge  proceeded  to  note  his  judgments. 


ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  REFORMERS  197 

Once  his  attention  was  drawn  by  a  remark  of  an  official,  to  which  he 
repHed  promptly,  at  the  same  time  breaking  into  a  broad  smile,  but 
suddenly  recollecting  the  circumstances  and  the  presence  of  the  men 
sentenced  to  death,  placed  his  hand  over  his  mouth  and  wiped  the 
smile  away.  The  incident  was  of  course  noticed  by  many  people  in 
Court,  and  helped  to  strengthen  the  impression  which  a  limited  but 
sufficient  experience  of  Mr.  Gregorowski  had  already  created. 

If  the  belief  which  now  obtains,  that  the  Beformers  were  enticed  to 
plead  guilty  and  misled  as  to  the  probable  consequences  of  that  plea, 
should  outlive  personal  feelings  and  leave  a  permanent  mark  in  South 
African  history,  it  will  be  because  it  survives  a  searching  test.  In 
South  Africa — as  in  many  other  countries— it  is  the  invariable  practice 
of  the  Courts  to  decline  to  accept  the  plea  of  guilty  to  a  capital  charge. 
The  prisoner  is  informed  that  as  the  plea  involves  capital  punishment 
it  will  not  be  accepted  ;  and  a  formal  trial  and  sufficient  evidence  of 
the  crime  are  required  by  the  Court.  That  is  done  even  in  cases 
where  the  prisoner  knows  what  the  punishment  will  be  I  In  the  case 
of  the  Eeformers  the  State  Attorney  had,  it  is  true,  informed  Mr. 
"Wessels  that  he  would  be  obliged  pro  forma  to  put  in  certain  evidence, 
but  the  reason  was  not  given,  and  Mr.  "Wessels  regarded  it  merely  as 
the  quid  pro  quo  for  accepting  unquestioned  the  written  statement  of 
the  four  accused !  Mr.  Gregorowski,  in  defending  his  sentence,  has 
stated  that  under  Koman-Dutch  law  he  had  no  option  but  to  pass 
sentence  of  death.  Yet,  contrary  to  the  custom  with  which  seventeen 
years'  practice  had  made  him  famihar,  he  accepted  the  plea  of  guilty 
— and  accepted  it  without  a  word  of  explanation  or  of  warning  1  Is  it 
surprising  that  people  should  want  to  know  why  ? 

The  men  were  removed  from  Court  under  very  heavy  escort,  the 
condemned  men  being  conveyed  in  a  closed  carriage  and  the  rest  of 
the  prisoners  being  marched  through  the  streets  to  the  gaol,  the  whole 
party  moving  at  a  foot  pace.  A  little  incident  at  the  start  did  not  fail 
to  attract  attention.  The  officer  commanding  a  section  of  the  guard 
having  issued  his  orders  in  Dutch  and  some  confusion  having  ensued, 
the  orders  were  repeated  in  German,  with  a  satisfactory  result. 

One  more  incident — trifling  perhaps  in  itself,  but  leaving  an  inefface- 
able impression — occurred  during  the  march  to  the  gaol.  As  the 
prisoners  slowly  approached  the  Government  buildings,  Dr.  Leyds, 
accompanied  by  one  friend,  walked  out  until  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
procession  of  sentenced  men  (a  great  proportion  of  whom  were  person- 
ally well  known  to  him)  and  stood  there  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets, 
smiling  at  them  as  they  went  past.  The  action  was  so  remarkable,  the 
expression  on  the  State  Secretary's  face  so  unmistakable,  that  the 
Dutch  guards  accompanying  the  prisoners  expressed  their  disgust. 
His  triumph  no  doubt  was  considerable ;  but  the  enjoyment  must 
have  been  short-lived,  if  the  accounts  given  by  other  members  of  the 


198  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Executive  of  his  behaviour  a  month  later  are  to  be  credited.  The 
man  who  stood  in  safety  and  smiled  in  the  faces  of  his  victims  was 
the  same  Dr.  Leyds  who,  within  a  month,  became  seriously  ill,  because 
some  fiery  and  impetuous  friend  of  the  prisoners  sent  him  an  anony- 
mous letter  with  a  death's  head  and  cross-bones  ;  who,  as  a  result, 
obtained  from  Government  a  guard  over  his  private  house  ;  and  who 
thereafter  proceeded  about  his  duties  in  Pretoria  under  armed  escort. 

It  is  stated  that  the  death  sentence  was  commuted  the  same  after- 
noon, but  no  intimation  of  this  was  given  to  the  prisoners,  and  no 
public  announcement  was  made  until  twenty-four  hours  later.  In 
spite  of  the  vindictive  urgings  of  the  Hollander  newspaper,  the 
VolTcsstem,  few  could  believe  that  the  death  sentence  would  be  carried 
out,  and  most  people  recognised  that  the  ebullitions  of  that  organ 
expressed  the  feelings  of  only  a  few  rabid  and  witless  individuals 
among  the  Hollanders  themselves,  and  were  viewed  with  disgust  by 
the  great  majority  of  them.  At  the  same  time,  the  scene  in  Court  had 
been  such  as  to  show  that  the  Government  party — the  officials  and 
Boers  then  present — had  not  regarded  the  death  sentence  as  a  mere 
formality,  but  had,  on  the  contrary,  viewed  it  as  a  deliberate  and  final 
judgment.  In  such  circumstances,  therefore,  it  can  be  believed  that 
the  prisoners  themselves  were  not  without  misgivings. 


CHAPTER  IX 

LIFE    IN    GAOL 

In  the  Transvaal  no  distinction  is  made  between  ordinary  criminals 
and  those  who  in  other  countries  are  recognised  as  first-class  mis- 
demeanants. Consequently  the  Reformers,  without  regard  to  the 
nature  of  their  offence,  their  habits,  health,  age,  or  condition,  were 
handed  over  to  the  gaoler,  Du  Plessis,  a  relative  of  President  Kruger, 
to  be  dealt  with  at  his  kind  discretion.  For  two  days  the  prisoners 
existed  on  the  ordinary  prison  fare.  The  majority  being  men  in  the 
early  prime  of  life  and  in  excellent  health,  suffered  no  ill  effects,  pre- 
ferring to  do  with  little  or  no  food  rather  than  touch  that  which  was 
doled  out  to  them;  but  to  the  others  it  was  a  rather  serious  thing. 
There  were  several  men  between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age  whose 
lives  had  been  spent  under  favourable  conditions.  There  were  some 
suffering  from  consumption,  one  from  diabetes,  one  from  fever,  one 
from  dysentery,  and  several  others  from  less  dangerous  but  sufficiently 
serious  complaints.  AU  alike  were  compelled  to  sleep  upon  the  floor, 
with  two  thin  blankets  for  protection.  They  were  locked  in  at  6  p.m., 
and  allowed  out  at  6  a.m.  Sanitary  accommodation  was  represented 
by  the  presence  of  a  couple  of  buckets  in  the  sleeping  room.     The  air- 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  199 

gpace  per  man  worked  out  at  145  cubic  feet,  as  against  900  feet  pre- 
scribed by  English  prison  regulations.  Ventilation  was  afforded  on 
the  one  side  by  square  holes  cut  in  the  corrugated  iron  walls  of  the 
shed/  and  on  the  other  (the  buildings  being  lean-tos  against  the  per- 
manent prison  buildings)  by  grated  windows  opening  into  the  native 
cells.  Needless  to  say,  these  grated  windows  were  originally  intended 
to  afford  ventilation  to  the  native  cells,  but  the  buildings  to  accommo- 
date the  Eeformers  had  been  erected  against  the  side-walls  of  the 
Kaffir  quarters.  The  stench  was  indescribable.  At  6  a.m.  the  prisoners 
were  allowed  out  into  the  yard,  where  they  had  the  option  of  exercis- 
ing throughout  the  day.  The  lavatories  and  bathing  arrangements 
consisted  of  a  tap  in  the  yard  and  an  open  furrow  through  which  the 
town  water  ran,  the  lower  end  of  which  was  used  as  a  wash-place  by 
prisoners,  white  and  black  alike.  Within  a  foot  or  two  of  the  furrow, 
where  alone  washing  of  the  person  or  of  clothing  was  allowed,  stood 
the  gaol  urinals.  There  was  neither  adequate  provision  in  this  depart- 
ment, nor  any  attempt  at  proper  supervision,  the  result  being  that 
through  irregularities,  neglect,  and  defective  arrangement,  the  ground 
on  both  sides  of  the  water-furrow  for  six  or  eight  yards  was  horribly 
stained  and  saturated  by  leakage.  Many  of  the  prisoners  could  not 
approach  this  quarter  without  being  physically  ill.  Without  further 
detail  it  may  be  stated  that  there  were  at  that  time  over  250  prisoners, 
about  100  of  whom  were  white.  There  were  three  closets  and  six 
buckets  for  the  accommodation  of  all,  and  removals  took  place  some- 
times once  a  day,  sometimes  once  in  every  four  days.  Nothing  but 
the  horror  of  such  conditions,  and  the  fact  that  they  prevail  still  in 
Pretoria  Gaol,  and  presumably  in  other  gaols  more  removed  from 
critical  supervision,  could  warrant  allusions  to  such  a  disgusting  state 
of  affairs. 

At  6.15  breakfast  was  served.  A  number  of  tin  dishes,  containing 
one  pound  of  mealie-meal  porridge  (ground  maize)  each,  were  placed 
in  a  row  on  the  ground  in  the  yard  in  the  same  manner  as  a  dog's 
food  might  be  set  out.  A  bucket  near  by  contained  some  coarse  salt 
in  the  condition  in  which  it  was  collected  in  the  natural  salt  pans,  the 
cubes  varying  from  the  size  of  peas  to  the  size  of  acorns.  No  sugar, 
milk,  tea,  or  coffee,  was  allowed.  In  order  to  utiUze  the  salt  the 
prisoners  were  obliged  to  crush  it  with  rough  stones  on  the  cement 
steps.  ■  Needless  to  say,  but  few  partook  of  this  food.  To  those  who 
had  not  tasted  it  before  in  the  course  of  prospecting  or  up-country 
travelling,  where  conditions  are  sometimes  very  hard,  it  was  no  more 
possible  to  swallow  it  than  to  eat  sawdust* 

Dinner  was  at  12  o'clock,  and  it  consisted  of  coarse  meat  boiled 
to  that  degree  which  was  calculated  to  qualify  the  water  in  which  it 

1  This  was  done  on  the  second  day — after  a  night  without  any  ventilation 
at  all. 


200  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

was  boiled  to  be  called  soup,  without  depriving  the  meat  of  all  title  to 
be  considered  a  separate  dish.  With  this  meal  was  also  served  half  a 
pound  of  bread.  Supper,  which  was  provided  at  5  o'clock,  was  exactly 
the  same  as  breakfast. 

Two  days  of  this  fare  told  very  severely  upon  those  whose  physical 
condition  was  not  of  the  best.  By  the  third  day  several  of  the  older 
men  and  those  in  ill- health  had  broken  down  and  were  placed  on 
hospital  fare.  Matters  were  sufficiently  seiious  to  induce  the  authori- 
ties to  allow  gradual  amelioration  of  the  conditions,  and  by  degrees 
food  of  a  better  class  was  introduced.  Mattresses  and  other  articles  of 
bedding  were  allowed,  but  stretchers,  although  provided  for  in  the 
prison  regulations,  were  denied  to  the  men  until  a  few  hours  before 
their  release  a  month  later,  when  the  prisoners  were  permitted  by  the 
gaoler  to  purchase  them,  no  doubt  with  an  eye  to  reversion  to  him  in 
the  course  of  a  few  hours.  From  time  to  time  the  regulations  as  to 
food  were  varied  at  the  whim  of  the  gaoler.  On  one  day  only  cooked 
food  would  be  allowed  in ;  on  another  only  raw  food ;  on  a  third 
nothing  but  tinned  stuff ;  on  a  fourth  all  was  turned  back  at  the  gates 
with  the  exception  of  that  obtained  by  a  few  individuals  at  a  heavy 
premium. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  passing  of  sentence  representations  were  made 
to  the  prisoners,  excluding  the  four  death-sentence  men,  that  it  would 
be  advisable  to  appeal  to  the  clemency  of  the  Government  for  some 
mitigation.  In  that  case,  it  was  stated,  there  was  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  sentence  of  imprisonment  would  be  entirely  remitted 
and  that  the  sentence  of  banishment  would  also  be  commuted.  The 
individuals  from  whom  this  suggestion  first  came  were  of  the  class 
which  habitually  trades  between  the  Government  and  the  public— the 
gentlemen  of  the  backstairs.  For  this  reason  some  of  the  prisoners 
gave  considerable  credence  to  the  reports,  whilst  others,  for  the  very 
same  reason,  would  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  them.  Hence 
arose  a  condition  of  things  very  like  a  deadlock  among  the  prisoners 
themselves.  It  was  represented  by  these  agents  that  it  would  be  worse 
than  useless  for  some  of  the  prisoners  to  petition  if  many  others 
refused  to  do  so  and  stood  out.  Some  of  the  prisoners  did  actually 
petition — a  course  of  action  which  was  strongly  condemned  by  others  ; 
but  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  were  among  the  prisoners 
many  men  who  were  in  bad  health  and  poor  circumstances,  who  had 
heavy  responsibilities  in  private  life,  and  who  were  not  only  unable  to 
pay  their  fines,  but  even  unable  to  make  any  provision  for  their  families 
during  incarceration.  Such  conditions  would  tend  to  shake  the  nerve 
of  most  men. 

With  this  nucleus  to  work  upon,  the  Government,  through  their 
agents,  began  a  system  of  terrorism  by  which  they  hoped  to  establish 
conditions  under  which  their  '  magnanimity  by  inches  '  would  appear 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  201 

in  the  most  favourable  possible  light.  The  first  petition  presented  for 
the  signature  of  the  prisoners  was  one  in  which  they  were  asked  to 
admit  the  justice  of  their  sentences,  to  express  regret  for  what  they  had 
done,  and  to  promise  to  behave  themselves  in  the  future.  The  docu- 
ment closed  with  an  obsequious  and  humiliating  appeal  to  the  '  proved 
magnanimity  of  the  Government.'  The  reception  accorded  to  this  was 
distinctly  unfavourable,  copies  of  the  petitions  being  in  some  instances 
torn  up  and  flung  in  the  faces  of  those  who  presented  them.  The 
great  majority  of  the  prisoners  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
them,  and  on  representing  the  view  that  any  appeal  so  couched  was 
not  consistent  with  their  self-respect,  they  were  informed  that  the 
petition  had  already  been  shown  to  the  President  and  members  of  the 
Executive  Council  and  had  been  approved  by  them,  and  that  it  would 
not  look  well  to  alter  it  now. 

Every  effort  was  made  for  some  days  to  induce  the  prisoners  to  sign 
this  document,  but  they  refused.  A  certain  number  of  the  men  were 
opposed  to  signing  anything  whatever,  even  the  most  forrnal  appeal  to 
the  Executive  Council  for  a  revision  of  sentence.  They  based  their 
refusal  upon  two  reasons  :  Ist,  that  they  had  been  arrested  by  an  act 
of  treachery  and  tried  by  a  packed  Court,  and  if  the  Executive  recog- 
nised the  injustice  of  the  sentence  they  might  act  spontaneously  with- 
out petition  from  the  prisoners ;  2nd,  that  they  believed  that  any 
document,  however  moderate,  which  they  might  sign,  would  only  be 
the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge  by  which  the  Government  hoped  to  intro- 
duce the  principle  of  individual  statements  and  pleas — that  is  to  say, 
each  one  to  excuse  himself  at  the  expense  of  his  neighbour,  and  thus 
enable  the  authorities  to  establish  by  the  prisoners'  own  confessions 
the  extent  of  the  guilt  and  complicity  which  they  had  been  unable  to 
prove. 

Under  such  conditions  an  appeal  was  made  to  Messrs.  Eose  Innes, 
Q.C.,  and  Solomon,  Q.C.  These  gentlemen  had  remained  in  Pretoria 
and  devoted  their  time  and  energies  to  obtaining  some  amelioration  of 
the  conditions  of  imprisonment  and  some  mitigation  of  the  sentences 
imposed  upon  the  Eeformers.  The  petition  as  presented  by  the 
Government  was  shown  to  Mr.  Innes,  who  indignantly  rejected  the 
suggestion  of  signing  any  such  document.  As  the  strongest  reason 
adduced  in  favour  of  signing  petitions  was  the  statement  that  according 
to  law  and  custom  it  was  impossible  for  the  Government  to  take 
cognizance  of  the  prisoners'  case  even  with  every  desire  to  mitigate 
the  punishment  unless  it  was  brought  before  them  by  direct  appeal, 
Mr,  Innes  undertook  to  see  the  President  and  Chief-Justice  Kotze  on 
the  subject.  By  this  time  further  suggestions  had  been  made  on  the 
subject  of  petitions,  and  the  prisoners  were  being  lu-ged  among  other 
things  to  name  in  plain  terms  the  extent  and  manner  in  which  they 
would  like  their  sentences  commuted.     This  proposal  was  regarded  as 


202  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

a  preposterous  and  ridiculous  one  ;  bui  nothing  is  too  ridiculous  for 
Pretoria,  and  it  was  necessary  to  deal  seriously  with  it. 

In  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Rose  Innes  interviewed  the  Chief 
Justice,  in  order  to  get  the  highest  authority  in  the  country  as  a  guide. 
Mr.  Kotz^  would  not  at  first  express  an  opinio-,  as  to  whether  petitions 
should  be  sent  in,  but  he  was  evidently  inclined  to  recommend  them 
as  politic.  '  But,'  said  Mr.  Innes,  '  it  is  not  a  (juestion  of  policy  ;  it  is 
a  matter  of  law.  Is  there  anything  in  the  law  which  renders  it 
necessary  for  a  prisoner  to  petition  before  his  sentence  may  be  revised 
by  the  Executive — anything  which  debars  the  Executive  from  dealing 
with  his  case  if  he  does  not  petition  ?'    Mr.  Kotz^'s  answer  was  clear : 

*  No,  certainly  not — nothing  whatever  1' 

In  the  interview  with  the  President  which  took  place  immediately 
after  this  Mr.  Innes  was  brusquely  informed  that  petitions  from  the 
prisoners  were  of  no  value,  and  would  receive  no  consideration  ;  that 
the  President  did  not  want  any  of  their  petitions;  and  that  he  was 
guided  solely  by  his  burghers,  who  had  already  petitioned  in  the  matter. 

•  I  would  pay  more  heed,'  said  Mr.  Kruger,  '  to  a  petition  from  fifty  of 
my  burghers  than  to  one  from  the  whole  of  Johannesburg.'  At  the  con- 
clusion of  an  unpleasant  interview,  which  called  for  all  the  tact  and 
good  temper  at  the  command  of  the  gentleman  who  was  interesting 
himself  on  behalf  of  the  prisoners,  the  President  added  in  an  offhand 
manner  :  *  The  petitions  can  do  no  harm,  and  might  strengthen  my 
hands  in  dealing  with  the  rest  of  the  Executive ;  so  they  can  send 
them  in  if  they  like.' 

With  this  answer  Messrs.  Innes  and  Solomon  returned  to  the  gaol, 
and  after  informing  the  prisoners  of  what  had  taken  place,  advised 
them,  under  the  circumstances,  to  make  a  formal  but  respectful  appeal 
for  a  revision  of  the  sentences.  It  was  their  opinion,  based  upon  the 
information  which  they  had  at  great  pains  gathered,  and  it  was  also 
the  opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice,  that  no  petition  was  necessary,  and 
that  the  sentences  would  be  brought  under  the  consideration  of  the 
Executive  by  the  memorials  of  the  burghers ;  but  they  considered  that 
as  interested  persons  or  indiscreet  friends  had  already  suggested  the 
idea  of  petitions,  and  as  a  refusal  now  to  sign  anything  might  have 
a  very  unfavourable  effect  upon  persons  with  the  disposition  and 
character  of  those  with  whom  they  had  to  deal,  it  would  be  advisable 
to  make  an  appeal  so  worded  as  to  formally  comply  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  extreme  party  in  the  Executive  ;  one  which  would  satisfy 
those  of  the  prisoners  who  were  in  favour  of  appealing,  and  would  not 
be  offensive  to  those  who  were  against  petitions  at  any  cost. 

The  strongest  reason  for  urging  this  was  to  preserve  unanimity  of 
action  among  the  prisoners.  The  course  was,  in  fact,  a  compromise 
designed  to  satisfy  those  who  considered  a  petition  of  some  sort  to  be 
necessary,  and  those  who  would  not,  as  they  expressed  it,  *  sacrifice 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  203 

their  self-respect '  by  asking  for  anything  from  the  people  who  had 
treated  them  in  what  they  deemed  to  be  a  dishonest  and  treacherous 
manner. 

All  the  prisoners  except  Messrs.  A.  Woolls-Sampson  and  W.  D.  (Karri) 
Davies  agreed  to  this :  many  did  so  much  against  their  own  wishes 
because  of  the  appeal  to  stand  together,  and  because  it  was  strongly 
urged  that  their  obstinacy  would  affect  not  only  themselves  but  would 
prevent  the  liberation  of  others  whose  circumstances  were  almost 
desperate.  They  yielded,  it  is  true,  but  remained  unconvinced.  To 
Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies  the  answers  of  the  Chief  Justice  and  the 
President  are  now  of  considerable  importance,  since  the  reason  given 
for  their  detention  involves  the  repudiation  of  the  assurances  given  by 
the  President  and  Chief  Justice. 

Those  who  had  not  signed  any  other  form  of  appeal  now  made  a 
formal  application  to  have  their  sentences  brought  into  review  by  the 
Executive  Council.  They  stated  then  their  belief  that  it  was  only  the 
beginning  of  the  petition  business,  that  it  would  be  wholly  ineffective, 
and  that  it  was  to  be  understood  that  they  would  sign  no  more  under 
any  circumstances.  This  application  was  deemed  by  the  emissaries  of 
the  Government  to  be  sufficient  to  comply  with  the  requirements,  and 
promises  were  conveyed  to  the  prisoners  that  the  sentences  would  be 
at  once  taken  into  consideration  and  commutations  announced.  In 
the  course  of  a  day  or  two,  however,  further  demands  were  made,  and 
the  prisoners  were  informed  that  they  would  be  dressed  in  the  prison 
garb  under  severer  regulations  specially  passed  for  them  unless  they 
at  once  petitioned  against  this  course. 

Again  Mr.  Innes  represented  their  case  to  the  Government  at  the 
dictate  of  his  own  feelings  of  humanity,  and  not  prompted  thereto  by 
the  prisoners  themselves,  most  of  whom  would  have  been  glad  to  see 
the  Government  wreak  their  vengeance  in  petty  and  vindictive  pro- 
visions. The  proposed  alterations  were,  however,  abandoned  without 
protest  from  the  prisoners  after  the  supply  of  convict  garb  had  been 
sent  up  to  the  gaol.  So  matters  went  on  day  by  day,  each  day 
bringing  its  fresh  instalments  of  threats,  promises  and  cajoleries,  each 
morning  its  batch  of  disappointments.  It  was  at  first  difficult  to  say 
what  object  the  Government  had  in  view  in  endeavouring  to  compel 
the  Eeformers  to  sign  petitions,  unless  it  were  the  unworthy  one  of 
desiring  to  humiliate  men  who  were  already  down,  or  the  perhaps 
more  contemptible  one  of  forcing  them  to  turn  informers  by  a  process 
of  self-excusing  and  thus  enable  them  to  differentiate  in  the  commuta- 
tions. The  fact  remained  that  repeated  efforts  were  made  and  pressure 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  men  to  induce  them  to  sign.  One  pretext 
after  another  was  used.  Finally  the  naked  truth  came  out :  the 
Government  required  each  man  to  state  in  an  individual  declaration 
the  extent  of  his  guilt,  the  extenuating  facts,  and  the  circumstances 


204  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

under  which  he  became  associated  with  the  Reform  movement.  This 
was  exactly  what  had  been  foretold  by  men  who  understood  Boer 
methods. 

The  means  resorted  to  by  the  gaol  officials  to  enforce  this  petition- 
signing  were  characteristic.  The  gaoler  (Du  Plessis)  is  one  of  the 
most  unfavourable  specimens  of  his  race.  Unscrupulous  and  brutal 
in  his  methods,  untrustworthy  as  to  his  undertakings,  and  violent  and 
uncertain  in  his  temper,  he  singled  out  those  among  the  prisoners 
whom  he  considered  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  '  stiff-necked  '  party  as  he 
termed  it,  and  treated  them  with  as  much  severity  as  he  could.  These 
men  found  themselves  unable  to  obtain  those  facilities  which  were 
regarded  as  the  right  of  all  the  prisoners.  Upon  occasion  their  food 
was  stopped  at  the  gates,  and  visitors — their  wives  and  families — were 
refused  admission,  although  provided  with  permits  from  the  proper 
authorities  and  complying  with  the  gaol  regulations ;  and  on  more 
than  one  occasion  he  informed  individual  members  of  this  party  that 
the  '  petitions  would  have  to  be  signed,'  that  they  would  have  to  *  go 
down  on  their  knees  to  the  Government,'  otherwise  they  would  '  rot 
in  gaol.'  All  this  undisguised  eagerness  to  obtain  the  signatures 
naturally  only  strengthened  the  resolution  of  the  men  who  stood  out. 
They  had  already  against  their  wishes  and  judgment  signed  one  ap- 
plication, and  more  than  that  they  refused  to  do.  When  it  was  found 
to  be  impossible  to  induce  the  men  to  inform  against  each  other,  some 
modification  was  made  in  the  demands  of  the  petition-hunters  and 
some  prisoners  were  asked  and  induced  to  make  statements  concerning 
their  own  part  in  the  late  movement,  making  no  allusion  to  the  part 
played  by  others,  and,  for  reasons  which  it  is  impossible  to  divine 
unless  it  was  designed  to  lead  to  something  more,  this  was  regarded  by 
the  Government  as  a  desirable  step. 

The  suspense  and  disappointment,  added  to  the  original  sentence 
upon  a  man  who  was  never  mentioned  in  evidence,  and  who  took  no 
part  in  the  Eeform  movement  beyond  associating  himself  with  the 
organizations  for  the  protection  of  property  in  Johannesburg,  told  so 
severely  upon  one  of  the  prisoners  that  his  mind  became  unhinged,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  following  period  he  developed  marked  signs  of 
homicidal  and  suicidal  mania.  His  condition  was  so  serious  that 
strong  representations  were  made  to  all  the  officials  connected  with 
the  gaol — the  gaoler  himself,  the  district  surgeon,  the  commissioner  of 
police,  and  the  landdrost  of  Pretoria.  The  prisoners  themselves 
organized  a  system  of  guards  or  watches  over  their  comrade,  pending 
the  result  of  their  representations  to  the  officials.  On  the  fourth  day, 
however,  the  unfortunate  man,  driven  out  of  his  mind  by  the  constant 
and  cruel  disappointment  of  purposely  raised  hopes,  eluding  the  watch- 
fulness of  his  friends,  took  his  own  life. 

The  news  of  this  event  was  received  with  horror  throughout  South 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  205 

Africa,  the  more  so  as  for  some  days  previously  the  newspapers  had 
hinted  at  some  such  impending  catastrophe.  In  the  course  of  the 
inquiry  which  was  held  evidence  was  given  showing  that  the  gaol 
surgeon  had  reported  the  state  of  affairs  to  the  proper  authorities  some 
days  before,  but  in  a  formal  and  half-hearted  way.  Evidence,  how- 
ever, was  forthcoming  that  four  of  the  prisoners  (themselves  medical 
men)  had  forcibly  represented  the  extreme  seriousness  of  the  case  to 
the  gaoler,  the  gaol  siu-geon  and  the  landdrost  of  Pretoria,  and  had 
induced  the  assistant-gaoler  and  warders  to  support  their  representa- 
tions, but  all  without  avail.  The  result  of  the  inquiry  was  to  lay 
partial  blame  upon  the  doctor  and  to  acquit  everybody  else— a  result 
which  the  public  have  been  used  to  expect  in  the  Transvaal.  It  is 
somewhat  difScult  to  see  how  the  decision  was  arrived  at,  seeing  that 
in  the  offices  there  was  the  record  of  a  special  pass  granted  to  the 
unfortunate  man's  wife  to  visit  him  and  remain  with  him  for  a  con- 
siderable period  on  the  previous  day,  in  order  to  cheer  him  up  and 
avert  serious  consequences.  The  incident  told  severely  upon  the  nerves 
of  those  who  were  not  themselves  in  the  best  of  health,  and  it  was 
found  necessary  immediately  t6  release  or  remove  others  among  the 
prisoners  for  fear  of  similar  results. 

The  Government  seemed  to  realize  that  it  was  incumbent  upon  them 
to  do  something  in  order  to  allay  the  feeling  of  indignation  which  was 
being  roused  throughout  South  Africa  at  their  manner  of  treating  the 
prisoners,  so  a  further  instalment  of  magnanimity  was  decided  upon. 
On  the  day  of  the  unfortunate  affair  the  manager  of  the  Government 
newspaper,  the  Press,  was  authorized  by  President  Kjuger  and  other 
members  of  the  Executive  to  inform  the  prisoners  that  they  would 
have  to  make  modified  personal  statements  of  the  nature  previously 
indicated,  and  if  these  petitions  were  presented  to  the  Executive 
Council  by  8  a.m.  on  the  following  Monday  (the  prisoners  would  then 
have  been  three  weeks  in  gaol),  orders  for  their  release  would  be  issued 
by  Monday  night.  In  order  to  secure  a  favourable  reception  of  this 
suggestion,  it  was  arranged  that  the  clergyman  who  was  to  conduct 
Divine  service  on  Sunday  in  the  gaol  would  deliver  this  message  from 
the  President  to  the  prisoners  at  the  conclusion  of  the  service,  and 
urge  the  men  for  their  own  sakes  and  for  the  sake  of  their  famiUes 
and  of  their  friends  to  abandon  the  position  which  they  had  taken 
up,  and  to  sign  declarations  of  the  nature  required,  and  so  secure  their 
release.  Nor  was  this  all.  Outside  the  gaol  the  wives  of  those  men 
who  stood  out  against  the  petition  movement  were  informed  by  Govern- 
ment officials  that  unless  the  demands  of  the  Government  were  com- 
plied with  by  their  husbands  they  would  serve  the  full  period  of  their 
sentence.  Pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  these  ladies,  and  special 
facilities  were  given  them  to  visit  the  gaol,  avowedly  in  order  to  bring 
about  the  desired  end. 


208  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Eleven  of  the  prisoners — apart  from  the  four  whose  punishment  in 
substitution  for  death  had  not  been  decided  upon,  and  who  were  there- 
fore not  concerned  in  the  petitions — declined  to  reconsider  their 
decision,  and  elected  rather  to  serve  their  term  of  two  years ;  and 
they  expressed  the  conviction  at  the  same  time  that  these  promises  of 
the  President  would  not  be  kept  any  more  than  others  had  been.  The 
result  justified  their  judgment.  After  a  postponement  of  two  days  on 
some  flimsy  pretext,  the  official  intimation  of  the  commutations  was 
given  to  the  prisoners  on  Wednesday,  May  20.  Instead  of  the  release 
positively  and  definitely  promised,  the  term  of  imprisonment  was 
reduced  in  the  following  degree  :  Ten  men  were  released,  twenty-four 
men  were  condemned  to  three  months',  eighteen  to  five  months',  and 
four  to  one  year's  imprisonment ;  and  the  clemency  of  the  Govern- 
ment towards  the  four  leaders  was  indicated  by  a  sentence  of  fifteen 
years  each. 

Even  a  short  period  of  imprisonment  under  the  existing  conditions 
meant  certain  death  to  a  proportion  of  the  men  sentenced,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  *  magnanimity '  displayed  by  the 
Government  after  the  disappointments  and  delays  seriously  affected 
the  health  of  a  number  of  the  men,  following  as  it  did  closely  upon  the 
tragic  affan  already  alluded  to. 

With  regard  to  Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies  no  decision  was 
announced,  it  being  intimated  by  Dr.  Leyds  that,  as  they  had  made 
no  petition,  their  case  had  not  been  brought  before  the  Government, 
and  the  Executive  had  therefore  no  official  knowledge  of  their  existence. 
But  the  extent  of  the  Government's  magnanimity  was  even  then  not 
fully  known.  On  the  following  day  it  was  announced  to  the  prisoners 
that  they  had  been  misinformed  with  regard  to  the  five  and  twelve 
months'  commutations — that  the  intention  and  resoluMon  of  the 
Executive  was  merely  to  grant  these  men  permission  to  appeal  at  the 
end  of  the  periods  named  to  the  aforesaid  magnanimity. 

Some  prominence  has  been  given  to  the  cases  of  those  prisoners  who 
were  unable  for  physical  or  other  special  reasons  to  withstand  the 
strain ;  and  it  should  therefore  be  made  equally  clear  that  in  many 
cases  the  men  regarded  with  contemptuous  amusement  the  cat-and- 
mouse  pohcy  and  the  stage-managed  magnanimity  displayed  towards 
them.  They  were  perfectly  well  able  and  willing  to  endure  the 
sentence  passed  upon  them,  and  they  were  not  misled  by  Boer 
promises  in  which  they  had  never  had  any  faith  at  all.  There  are 
good  reasons  to  be  assigned  for  the  willingness  of  many  of  the  men  to 
make  appeals  to  the  Government :  sheer  hard  necessity  and  the  suffer- 
ings of  those  dependent  upon  them  were  among  these  reasons ;  and  it 
is  unfair  to  consider  these  appeals  to  have  been  due  to  loss  of  nerve. 

There  were  among  the  prisoners  twenty-three  Englishmen,  sixteen 
South  Africans,  nine  Scotchmen,  six  Americans,  two  Welshmen,  one 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  207 

Irishman,  one  Australian,  one  Hollander,  one  Bavarian,  one  German, 
one  Canadian,  one  Swiss,  and  one  Turk.  This  variety  of  nationalities 
should  receive  due  consideration  when  questions  such  as,  for  instance, 
that  of  the  flag,  are  considered.  In  this  matter  of  petitions  it  was  not 
to  be  expected  that  men  whose  associations  with  the  country  had  been 
limited  to  a  few  years  should  experience  the  same  depth  of  feeling  and 
bitterness  of  resentment  as  the  South  Africans  born,  who  look  upon 
the  country  as  their  native  land,  and  who  view  with  keen  resentment 
the  attitude  of  the  Boers  towards  them  in  the  Transvaal,  so  much  at 
variance  with  their  attitude  towards  the  Boers  in  the  neighbouring 
colonies.  Nothing  could  illustrate  this  indifference  in  feeling  better 
than  the  fact  that  of  the  eleven  men  who  throughout  declined  to  sign 
petitions  eight  were  South  African  born,  one  Australian,  one  English, 
and  one  Scotch.  There  is  nothing  discreditable  to  others  in  these 
figures ;  they  simply  indicate  the  difference  of  feeling  which  did,  and 
indeed  naturally  must,  exist.  The  South  African  born  men  consider 
themselves  to  have  been  robbed  of  a  portion  of  their  birthright ;  the 
others  have  not  the  same  reason  for  thinking  this. 

With  men  of  so  many  nationalities  the  position  of  the  British 
Eesident  would  in  any  case  have  been  one  of  difficulty,  especially  after 
the  part  played  by  the  High  Commissioner.  In  the  case  of  Sir  Jacobus 
de  Wet  very  little  satisfaction  was  given.  What  caused  the  most  com- 
ment and  annoyance  among  the  prisoners  was  that  official  representa- 
tives of  other  countries  appeared  to  have  unusual  facilities  offered  them 
to  visit  the  subjects  of  their  Government — at  least,  they  could  com- 
mand the  ordinary  courtesies — whereas,  in  the  case  of  the  British 
Agent,  nothing  of  this  sort  existed.  Frequently  he  was  observed 
standing  outside  the  gaol  in  the  worst  of  weather  without  shelter, 
patiently  waiting  until  the  gaoler  would  deem  fit  to  see  him.  In  the 
meantinae  that  official  would  stroll  through  the  yard,  making  remarks 
to  his  subordinates  indicative  of  the  satisfaction  he  experienced  in 
keeping  the  representative  of  Her  Majesty  outside  in  the  rain  and  mud. 
Upon  occasions  when  he  was  afforded  admission  he  was  hustled 
through  the  yard  by  a  warder,  and  not  allowed  to  hold  private  con- 
versation with  any  of  the  prisoners.  On  several  occasions  he  com- 
plained that  he  was  refused  admission  by  order  of  the  gaoler,  and  the 
spectacle  of  England's  representative  being  turned  away  by  an  ignorant 
and  ill-conditioned  official  hke  Du  Plessis  was  not  an  edifying  one. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  upon  an  occasion  when  Du  Plessis 
adopted  the  same  tactics  towards  the  Portuguese  Consul,  that  gentle- 
man proceeded  at  once  to  the  Presidency  and  demanded  as  his  right 
free  admission  to  the  gaol  whenever  he  chose  to  go,  and  the  right  was 
promptly  recognised,  although  there  was  no  subject  of  his  Government 
at  the  time  within  the  precincts.  Indeed,  the  Portuguese  Consul  stated 
openly  that  he  called  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  as  a  friend  one  of  the 


208  THE  TRAITSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Eeform  prisoners,  giving  the  name  of  one  of  the  recalcitrants  most 
objectionable  to  the  Government.  The  American  Consul  too  carried 
matters  with  a  high  hand  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Pretoria,  and 
it  seemed  as  though  the  Paramount  Power  was  the  only  one  which 
the  Transvaal  Government  could  afford  or  cared  to  treat  with  con- 
tempt. 

The  period  of  gaol  life  afforded  the  Keformers  some  opportunity  of 
studying  a  department  of  the  Transvaal  Administration  which  they 
had  not  before  reaUzed  to  be  so  badly  in  need  of  reform.  The  system 
— if  system  it  can  be  called— upon  which  the  gaol  was  conducted  may 
be  gathered  from  the  gaoler's  own  words.  When  one  of  the  prisoners 
had  inquired  of  him  whether  a  certain  treatment  to  which  a  white 
convict  had  been  subjected  was  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the 
gaol,  and  had  received  an  answer  in  the  affirmative,  he  remarked  that 
he  did  not  think  many  of  the  Reformers  could  exist  under  such  con- 
ditions. Du  Piessis  replied  :  '  Oh  no  1  Not  one  of  you  would  be  alive 
a  month  if  the  rules  were  enforced.  No  white  man  could  stand  them. 
Indeed,'  he  added,  *  if  the  rules  were  jproperly  enforced,  not  even  a 
nigger  could  stand  them  1' 

Some  subsequent  experience  of  gaol-life  induced  the  Eeformers  to 
accept  this  view  as  tolerably  correct.  It  is  known,  for  instance,  that 
after  the  Malaboch  war  sixty-four  of  the  tribe  were  incarcerated  in 
Pretoria  Gaol.  Some  twenty  were  subsequently  released,  but  of  the 
remainder  twenty-six  died  within  the  year.  Bad  food,  vile  sanitary 
arrangements,  and  want  of  clothing  and  shelter  contributed  to  this 
end.  Malaboch  was  a  petty  chief  against  whom  an  expedition  was 
organized,  ostensibly  because  he  had  refused  to  pay  his  taxes.  The 
expedition  is  chiefly  notorious  on  account  of  the  commandeering  of 
British  subjects  which  led  to  the  visit  of  Sir  Henry  Loch  already 
described.  It  resulted — as  these  expeditions  inevitably  do — in  the 
worsting  of  the  natives,  the  capture  of  the  chief  and  his  headmen,  and 
the  parcelling  out  of  his  tribe  as  indentured  servants  among  the  Boers. 

Considerable  sympathy  was  felt  with  Malaboch  among  the  Uit- 
landers,  not  because  of  his  refusal  to  pay  taxes,  but  because  the 
opinion  prevailed  that  this  refusal  was  due  only  to  the  tyrannical  and 
improper  conduct  of  the  Boer  native  commissioners  ;  and  a  number  of 
Johannesburg  men  resolved,  in  the  interests  of  the  native  and  also  of 
the  native  labour  supply  on  the  Rand,  to  have  the  matter  cleared  up 
at  the  forthcoming  trial  of  the  chief.  Funds  were  provided  and  counsel 
employed,  nominally  to  defend  Malaboch,  but  really  to  impeach  the 
native  commissioners,  who  in  many  cases  were,  and  continue  to  be,  a 
perfect  curse  to  the  country.  No  sooner  had  this  intended  course  of 
action  become  known  than  the  Government  decided  to  treat  their 
prisoners  under  the  provisions  of  martial  law — to  treat  them,  in  fact,  as 
prisoners  of  war,  who  were  liable  to  be  indefinitely  detained  without 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  209 

further  trial.  Under  these  conditions  they  were  placed  in  the  Pretoria 
Gaol,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  subordinates,  there  they  have 
lived — or  died — since.  The  offences  of  these  natives,  for  all  anyone 
knows,  may  have  been  similar  to  those  of  Langalibalele,  Dinizulu, 
Secocoeni,  Cetewayo,  and  other  native  chiefs  whom  the  British 
Government  have  also  disposed  of  without  trial.  But  it  is  urged  that 
these  men  are  entitled  to  a  trial,  because  it  is  well  known  that  the 
provocation  under  which  they  committed  their  offences  against  the  law 
— if,  indeed,  any  were  committed — was  such  as,  in  the  minds  of  most 
people,  would  justify  their  action.^ 

The  position  of  a  native  in  the  Pretoria  Gaol  is  indeed  an  unhappy 
one.  Sleeping  accommodation — that  is  to  say,  shed  accommodation — is 
provided  for  about  one -quarter  of  the  number  confined  there.  During 
fine  weather  it  is  no  hardship  upon  the  natives  to  sleep  in  the  open 
yard,  provided  they  have  some  covering.  The  blankets  doled  out  to 
them  are,  however,  in  many  cases,  such  as  one  would  not  allow  to 
remain  in  one's  kennels  ;  and  in  wet  or  cold  weather  (and  the  fact  is 
that  during  at  least  one  quarter  of  the  year  the  nights  are  cold,  whilst 
during  the  five  months'  wet  season  rain  may  fall  at  any  time)  the 
sufferings  of  these  unfortunates,  many  of  whom  have  no  blankets  at  all, 
are  very  severe.  Of  course,  the  stronger  fight  their  way  into  the  shed, 
and  even  fill  the  httle  covered  passage-way ;  the  others  crouch  or  lie 
about  in  the  open  yard  like  wild  beasts,  without  a  vestige  of  shelter. 

On  behalf  of  the  native  political  prisoners  representations  were  made 
by  the  gaol  doctor  that  they  were  dying  in  numbers  from  scurvy  and 
fever,  for  want  of  vegetable  food.  A  special  effort  on  his  part  secured 
for  a  few  days  some  allowance  of  this  nature,  but,  the  matter  having 
been  brought  to  the  notice  of  General  Joubert,  the  Superintendent- 
General  of  natives,  peremptory  orders  were  issued  to  discontinue  this ; 
and  this  although  the  wretched  creatures  might  have  been  sufficiently 
supplied  from  the  gardens  attached  to  the  gaol  which  are  cultivated  by 
the  prisoners,  and  the  product  of  which  was  used  by  the  gaoler  to  feed 
his  pigs.  For  a  little  while  longer  the  doctor  continued  the  vegetable 
diet  at  his  own  expense,  but  being  unable  to  afford  this  it  was  discon- 
tinued, and  the  former  death-rate  was  resumed. 

Floggings  are  quite  common.  In  many  instances  white  men  have 
been  flogged  there.  It  is  not  intended  to  suggest  that  this  should  not 
have  been  done,  but  cases  occurred  in  the  Pretoria  Gaol  which  are 
surely  difficult  to  justify.  Du  Plessis  stated  to  the  Eeform  prisoners 
that  he  had,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Landdrost,  inflicted  upon  one 
prisoner  named  Thompson,  who  was  undoubtedly  refractory  and  dis- 
obedient, upiuards  of  eighty- lashes  within  three  weeks.  He  added 
that  this  was  as  good  as  a  death- sentence,  because  neither  white  nor 
black  could  stand  two  inflictions  of  twenty-five  lashes,  as  they  were 
1  See  Appendix  E. 

14 


210  THE  TEANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

given  in  Pretoria  Gaol,  without  permanent  injury  to  the  constitution. 
The  effect,  he  observed,  of  this  severe  punishment  upon  the  back  was 
to  cause  the  blood  to  rush  and  settle  on  the  lungs,  and  in  every  case  it 
resulted  in  fatal  lung  mischief. 

During  the  period  of  imprisonment  the  Eeformers  witnessed  a  con- 
siderable number  of  floggings.  These,  when  inflicted  by  the  assistant- 
gaoler  or  warders,  were  usually  marked  by  some  kind  of  moderation  and 
consideration  for  the  prisoner's  physical  condition,  and  some  regard  for 
of&cial  decencies.  The  same  cannot  be  said  of  those  in  which  Du 
Plessis  himself  took  a  prominent  part.  Upon  one  occasion,  when  a 
native  had  been  released  from  the  triangle,  after  twenty  strokes  from 
the  cat  had  been  borne  without  a  murmur,  Du  Plessis  suddenly  became 
infuriated  at  the  stoicism  of  his  victim,  and,  stepping  towards  him, 
knocked  the  released  man  down  with  his  fist  and  spurned  him  with  his 
foot.  Upon  another  occasion  a  boy  of  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age 
(under  what  circumstances  is  not  known)  was  taken  by  Du  Plessis  into 
the  open  yard,  stretched  in  mid  air  by  two  warders  gripping  his  wrists 
and  ankles,  and  flogged  with  a  cane  by  Du  Plessis  himself.  The 
screams  of  the  child  were  heart-rending,  and  the  sight  caused  one  lady 
who  happened  to  be  visiting  in  the  gaol  to  faint.  When  the  wretched 
urchin  was  released  by  the  two  warders  and  stood  cowering  before  Du 
Plessis,  the  latter  repeated  his  former  performance  of  knocking  his 
victim  down  with  his  closed  fist. 

Mr.  Du  Plessis,  it  should  be  remembered,  is  a  sample  of  a  certain 
class  only  of  the  Boers — not  by  any  means  of  all.  He  is  a  man  with 
a  treacherous  and  vindictive  temper,  distinctly  unpleasant  in  appear- 
ance, being  coarsely  and  powerfully  built,  and  enjoying  an  expression 
of  countenance  which  varies  between  cunning  and  insincerity  on  one 
hand  and  imdisguised  malevolence  on  the  other.  Some  idea  of  the 
general  kindliness  of  his  disposition  may  be  gathered  from  his  actions. 
On  one  occasion,  when  special  relaxation  of  the  rules  was  authorized 
by  the  Landdrost  of  Pretoria  in  order  to  enable  a  number  of  the 
Johannesburg  friends  of  the  prisoners  to  see  them,  and  when  about 
one  hundred  permits  had  been  issued  by  that  official  to  men  travelling 
over  from  Johannesburg  specially  for  the  purpose,  Du  Plessis  devised 
means  to  defeat  this  act  of  consideration,  and  issued  orders  to  his 
guards  to  admit  only  three  visitors  at  a  time  to  the  gaol.  As  a  conse- 
quence, more  than  half  failed  to  gain  admittance.  Nor  was  he  satisfied 
with  this ;  he  informed  the  prisoners  themselves  that  he  wished  the 
Landdrost  had  issued  two  hundred  passes  instead  of  one  hundred,  so 
that  he  might  let  those  Johannesburg  people  know  who  was  '  baas  ' 
there.  Possibly  the  fact  that  on  the  previous  day  he  had  been  severely 
rebuffed  in  his  petition  campaign  may  have  provoked  this  act  of 
retaliation. 

Another  instance  of  Mr.  Du  Plessis'  system  was  afforded  by  the  case 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  211 

of  an  old  schoolmaster,  an  Englishman  named  Grant.  He  had  been  a 
teacher  upon  the  farm  of  a  Boer  near  Pretoria.  Through  some  differ- 
ence with  his  employer  he  was  dismissed ;  and  his  own  version  of  the 
affair  indicates  that  he  suffered  considerable  injustice.  From  the 
evidence  given  in  the  case,  in  which  he  subsequently  figured,  it 
appeared  that,  in  order  to  urge  his  grievance,  he  returned  to  the 
Boer's  farm,  and  even  re-entered  the  house  which  he  had  formerly 
occupied.  He  was  arrested  and  charged  with  trespass,  or  threatening 
to  molest  his  late  employer  and  members  of  his  family,  and  was  bound 
over  to  keep  the  peace  for  six  months  and  to  find  £50  surety  for  the 
same,  failing  which  he  should  go  to  gaol  for  that  period.  This  seemed 
to  be  rather  a  harsh  sentence  to  pass  upon  a  man  who  was  over  fifty 
years  of  age,  entirely  destitute  of  means,  of  very  inferior  physique, 
and  who  had  been  charged  at  the  instance  of  an  individual  who  could 
certainly  have  protected  himself  against  five  such  men  as  Grant.  No 
doubt  the  accused  was  an  eccentric  man,  and  probably  a  nuisance, 
and  it  is  even  possible  that  his  conduct  left  the  magistrate  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  pass  the  sentence  which  he  did :  it  is  not  intended  to 
question  the  justice  of  this  part  of  the  affair.  Having  been  sent  to 
gaol,  however,  because  he  could  not  deposit  £50,  Grant  was  treated  as 
the  commonest  malefactor  in  all  respects  but  one — he  was  allowed  to 
retain  his  own  clothing.  The  unfortunate  old  man  made  a  pathetic 
picture  with  his  seedy  clothes,  tail  coat,  tall  white  hat,  and  worn 
gloves,  which  he  punctiliously  wore  whenever  called  upon  to  face  the 
authorities — and  it  happened  rather  frequently.  He  objected  to  being 
classed  and  herded  with  the  thieves  and  murderers  and  others  whose 
crimes  were  even  more  repulsive.  He  protested  against  the  class  of 
food  that  was  served  to  him.  For  these  remonstrances  he  at  first 
received  solitary  confinement  and  even  poorer  diet ;  and  later,  with  a 
brutality  which  one  can  surely  only  find  in  a  Du  Plessis,  the  unfortu- 
nate old  man  was  placed  in  the  Kaffir  stocks,  thrown  oijt  in  the  middle 
of  the  yard  that  he  might  be  humiliated  in  the  sight  of  all,  and  kept 
there  in  the  fierce  heat  of  a  tropical  sun  for  half  a  day.  The  sole 
excuse  for  this  was,  that  he  had  been  unruly  in  protesting  against  the 
treatment  which  he  was  receiving.  The  spectacle  excited  the  pity  of 
the  Reform  prisoners  to  such  an  extent  that,  even  with  the  certainty 
of  an  insulting  rebuff  from  the  gaoler,  they  endeavoured  to  represent 
the  man's  case  so  as  to  have  him  released,  but  without  success.  It 
need  only  be  added  that  the  unfortunate  man  did  not  serve  his  entire 
term,  the  first  act  of  the  first  released  Reformers  being  to  pay  up  the 
surety  required  and  provide  him  with  funds  to  leave  the  country. 
Grant  may  have  been  as  guilty  and  offensive  as  eccentricity  can  make 
a  man,  but  nothing  can  justify  the  manner  in  which  he  was  treated. 

The  stocks  in  the  hands  of  Du  Plessis  were  not  the  mild  corrective 
instrument  which  they  are  sometimes  considered  to  be.     According  to 

14-2 


212  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

this  authority,  the  stocks  can  be  made  to  inflict  various  degrees  of 
punishment.  Du  Plessis  states  that  when  he  took  over  the  gaol,  he 
found  that  the  custom  was  to  place  men  in  the  stocks  within  a  cell, 
and  to  trust  to  the  irksomeness  of  the  position  and  the  solitary  confine- 
ment to  bring  about  a  better  frame  of  mind ;  but  he  soon  found  that 
this  system  was  capable  of  improvement.  His  first  act  was  to  place 
the  prisoners,  white  or  black,  in  the  stocks  in  the  middle  of  the  yard, 
so  that  they  should  be  exposed  to  the  observation  and  remarks  of  all 
the  officials  and  visitors  and  their  fellow-prisoners.  In  explaining  the 
reasons  for  this  change,  he  said  that  he  found  that  in  a  cool  cell  a  man 
could  be  tolerably  comfortable,  and  that  even  the  most  hardened  of 
them  preferred  not  to  be  seen  in  the  stocks  by  others  ;  whereas  in  the 
yard  they  were  obliged  to  sit  on  the  uneven  gravel  and  to  endure  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  as  well  as  being  '  the  cynosure  of  every  eye.'  But 
this  did  not  satisfy  the  ingenious  Du  Plessis.  The  yard  of  the  Pretoria 
Gaol  inclines  from  south  to  north  about  one  foot  in  four,  and  Du 
Plessis'  observant  eye  detected  that  the  prisoners  invariably  sat  facing 
down  the  slope — for  of  course  they  were  not  allowed  to  lie  down  while 
in  the  stocks,  this  being  too  comfortable  a  position.  Upon  studying 
the  question,  he  found  that  in  this  way  much  more  ease  was  experienced 
owing  to  the  more  obtuse  angle  thus  formed  by  the  body  and  the  legs. 
This  did  not  suit  him,  and  he  issued  further  orders  that  in  future  all 
prisoners  in  the  stocks  should  be  obliged  to  sit  facing  uphill,  and  that 
they  should  not  be  allowed  to  hold  on  to  the  stocks  in  order  to  maintain 
themselves  in  this  position,  but  should  have  to  preserve  the  upright 
posture  of  the  body  by  means  of  the  exertion  of  the  muscles  of  the 
back  alone.  Needless  to  say,  the  maintenance  of  such  a  position  for 
hours  at  a  time  caused  an  agony  of  aches  which  many  prisoners  were 
quite  unable  to  endure,  and  frequently  the  men  were  seen  to  throw 
themselves  back  and  lie  down  at  the  risk  of  being  kicked  up  by  the 
vigilant  Du  Plessis,  and  confined  in  the  stocks  for  a  longer  period  than 
was  originally  intended.  Nor  did  this  complete  the  list  of  Mr.  Du 
Plessis'  ingenuities.  The  stocks  had  been  built  to  accommodate  several 
persons  at  the  same  time,  and  he  found  that  by  inserting  the  legs  in 
the  alternate  holes,  instead  of  in  the  pair  as  designed  by  the  architect 
of  the  stocks,  the  increased  spread  of  the  legs  caused  still  greater  strain 
upon  his  victim.  This  was  reserved  for  special  cases — say  one  in  every 
four  or  five. 

The  incidents  here  given  illustrating  the  methods  of  this  delectable 
individual  were  all  witnessed  by  the  Keformers.  The  account  of  Du 
Plessis  may  serve  the  purpose  of  showing  the  methods  practised  under 
a  Government  whose  officials  are  appointed,  whenever  possible,  from 
the  family  circle,  and  not  because  of  fitness.  It  is  more  especially 
designed  to  show  the  character  of  the  man  in  whose  hands  the  prisoners 
were  placed  with  almost  absolute  discretion  ;  the  man  who  enjoys  the 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  213 

privilege  of  discussing  with  his  relative  PresiJjnt  Kruger,  at  any  hour 
at  which  he  may  choose  to  visit  the  Presidency,  the  treatment  to  be 
accorded  to  his  victims ;  the  man  who  is  retained  in  his  position  in 
spite  of  repeated  exposures  by  his  superiors,  and  who  is  credited  with 
exercising  very  considerable  influence  with  Mr.  Kruger ;  but,  above  all, 
the  man  in  whose  charge  remain  up  to  the  present  timei  the  two 
Reformers,  Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies,  who  declined  to  sign  any 
petition,  and  concerning  whom  Du  Plessis  stated  openly :  '  Wait  until 
the  others  have  gone,  and  if  the  Government  leave  them  in  my  hands, 
I'll  make  them  ready  to  sign  anything.*  Sufficient  has  been  said 
concerning  this  individual  to  warrant  the  description  publicly  given  of 
him  by  Colonel  Rhodes 2 — 'A  brutal  and  inhuman  wretch  1'  Like 
most  bullies,  the  man  is  also  a  coward.  When  he  witnessed  the  out- 
burst of  feeling  among  the  prisoners  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
their  comrade,  he  would  not  venture  into  the  precincts  of  the  gaol  for 
two  days,  until  assured  that  the  men  had  again  become  capable  of 
self-control. 

So  much  for  the  details  of  gaol  life. 

In  the  meantime,  sympathy  with  the  prisoners  began  to  take  practical 
form,  and  the  unanimity  of  feeling  on  their  behalf  throughout  South 
Africa,  which  was  quite  unexpected,  and  which  greatly  embarrassed 
the  Boer  Government,  tended  to  bring  matters  to  a  head.  Mr.  Rose 
Innes,  who  had  so  generously  and  constantly  exerted  himself  in 
Pretoria  in  order  to  obtain  some  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the 
prisoners,  and  who  had,  in  his  official  capacity  as  watching  the  case 
for  the  Imperial  Government,  made  a  very  strong  report  to  the  Colonial 
Office,  did  not  content  himself  with  these  exertions.  Upon  his  return 
to  Capetown,  he  suggested  and  organized  the  getting  up  of  a  monster 
petition  to  the  President  and  Executive,  urging  upon  them  in  the 
interests  of  the  peace  of  South  Africa  to  release  the  imprisoned  men. 
The  petitions  were  to  represent  the  views  of  every  town  and  village  in 

1  (July,  1899.)     They  were  released  in  June,  1897. 

2  Du  Plessis'  threats  i-egarding  Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies  were  made  so 
openly  and  vengefully  that  Colonel  F.  W.  Rhodes  deemed  it  to  be  his  duty  as 
soon  as  he  was  released  to  report  the  matter  to  the  High  Commissioner,  with 
a  view  to  insuring  some  measure  of  protection  for  the  two  gentlemen  above 
refen-ed  to.  After  the  release  of  the  other  prisoners,  Du  Plessis  was  for  a 
time  suspended,  owing  to  charges  laid  against  him  by  the  Inspector  of 
Prisons.  No  investigation  appears  however  to  have  been  made,  and  the  man 
was  reinstated.  During  the  month  of  September,  after  Messrs.  Sampson  and 
Davies  had  already  done  five  months  of  their  sentence  in  Pretoria  Gaol,  this 
man,  finding  himself  unable  to  break  their  spirit  by  other  means,  made  a 
proposal  to  the  Government  to  separate  the  two  and  to  place  them  in  two 
small  country  gaols  at  wide  distances  apart  and  far  removed  from  the  friendly 
offices  and  watchful  eyes  of  their  friends,  and  thus  deprive  them  of  such 
benefit  as  they  may  be  able  in  the  future  to  get  from  proximity  to  the  official 
I'epresentative  of  England.     In  the  past  they  have  certainly  derived  none. 


214  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

South  Africa,  and  were  to  be  presented  by  the  mayors  or  municipal 
heads  of  the  communities.  In  this  movement  Mr.  Eose  Innes  was 
most  ably  seconded  by  Mr.  Edmund  Garrett,  the  editor  of  the  Cape 
Times,  and  other  prominent  men.  A  movement  of  this  nature  natu- 
rally excited  considerable  attention  in  Pretoria ;  but  the  success  of  it 
was  wholly  unexpected.  The  President  and  his  party  had  played  to 
the  South  African  gallery,  and  they  had  not  yet  realized  that  they 
had  in  any  way  overdone  the  theatrical  part.  They  had  no  suspicion 
of  the  real  feeling  with  which  the  sentences  were  regarded,  nor  of  the 
extent  to  which  they  had  alienated  sympathy  by  that  and  the  subse- 
quent '  magnanimous  '  action.  '  Magnanimity  by  inches  '  had  been 
placarded  throughout  South  Africa,  and  the  whole  game  was  charac- 
terized as  one  of  cat  and  mouse,  in  which  the  President  was  playing 
with  his  victims  vnih  indifference  to  the  demands  of  justice  and 
humanity,  partly  with  a  view  to  wringing  concessions  from  the  British 
Government,  and  partly  from  a  mistaken  idea  that,  by  such  a  course, 
he  would  obtain  credit  at  each  step  afresh  for  dealing  generously  with 
those  who  were  at  his  mercy. 

The  movement  had  been  well  organized.  The  resolution  had  been 
passed  in  every  town  in  South  Africa,  even  including  the  towns  of 
the  Free  State.  The  mayors  (over  200  in  number)  were  on  their 
way  to  Pretoria,  when  the  President,  with  his  back  against  the  wall, 
realized  for  the  first  time  that  he  had  overshot  the  mark,  and  that 
unless  he  released  the  men  before  the  arrival  of  the  deputies  he  would 
either  have  to  do  so  apparently  at  their  instance  or  refuse  to  do  so, 
and  risk  rousing  a  dangerous  feeling.  He  chose  the  former  course ; 
he  released  all  the  imprisoned  men  with  the  exception  of  the  four  who 
had  been  sentenced  to  death  and  the  two  who  had  refused  to  appeal. 
Pretoria  and  Johannesburg  were  already  full  of  deputies  and  visitors 
from  Cape  Colony,  Natal,  and  the  Free  State,  all  bound  on  the  same 
errand  of  mercy.  The  feelings  of  these  men,  brought  many  hundreds 
of  miles  from  their  homes,  sacrificing  their  own  business  and  personal 
convenience  in  order  to  approach  the  President  and  to  support  a 
measure  which  they  felt  to  be  imperatively  necessary  to  the  allaying 
of  feeling  in  South  Africa,  may  be  imagined,  but  were  not  expressed, 
when  they  heard  that  they  had  been  allowed  to  undertake  this  journey 
as  part  of  the  President's  game,  only  to  receive  a  slap  in  the  face  from 
His  Honour  by  the  carrying  out  of  the  measure  before  they  were  per- 
mitted to  interview  him.  This,  at  least,  was  what  was  felt  to  be  the 
case  upon  the  release  of  the  majority.  Absolute  proof  of  it  was  forth- 
coming within  the  week,  when  the  President  refused  to  receive  the 
deputations,  and  kept  them  waiting  in  Pretoria  until  he  had  released 
the  four  leaders  as  well,  without  allowing  the  delegates  the  satisfaction 
of  a  courteous  recognition  of  then-  mission.  He  admitted  them,  it  is 
true,  to  an  informal  interview,  in  the  course  of  which  he  managed  to 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  215 

insult  and  outrage  the  feelings  of  a  good  many  by  lecturing  them  and 
giving  vent  to  very  candid  opinions  as  to  their  personal  action  and 
duties ;  but  he  would  not  receive  their  representatives  officially. 

On  May  30  the  prisoners,  with  the  exception  of  the  six  already 
referred  to,  were  released,  the  terms  being  that  their  fines  should  be 
paid  at  once,  and  the  unexpired  term  of  imprisonment  remitted.  Each 
one  as  released  was  required  to  bind  himself  for  the  term  of  three 
years,  reckoned  from  the  30th  day  of  May,  1896,  neither  directly  nor 
indirectly  to  meddle  in  the  internal  or  external  pohtics  of  the  South 
African  Eepublic,  and  to  conduct  himself  as  a  law-abiding  citizen  of 
the  State. 

In  some  cases  the  provision  was  added  that  if  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Executive  Council  the  terms  of  this  undertaking  should  be  broken,  the 
sentence  of  banishment,  which  was  held  in  suspense,  would  come  into 
force,  and  the  men  were  required  to  sign  this  addendum  to  the  above 
undertaking.  The  resolution  of  the  Executive  Council,  which  deals 
with  the  mitigation  of  the  sentences,  states  that  the  imprisonment 
portions  of  the  sentences  are  remitted ;  that  the  fines  (^2,000  in  all 
cases)  must  be  paid  at  once ;  and  that  the  banishment  shall  remain  in 
abeyance  subject  to  the  faithful  observance  of  the  above  undertaking; 
but  that  should  any  action  be  taken  by  any  of  the  prisoners  consti- 
tuting in  the  opinion  of  the  Executive  Council  a  breach  of  the  above 
undertaking,  the  sentence  of  banishment  shall  come  into  force. 

There  is  no  definition  of  the  phrase  '  meddle  in  politics,'  nor  is  there 
any  indication  of  what  in  the  opinion  of  the  Executive  Council  con- 
stitutes politics.  There  is,  of  course,  on  record  the  President's  own 
statement  in  public  that  he  would  not  permit  any  discussion  on  the 
dynamite  and  railway  questions,  because  they  are  matters  of  *  high 
politics ' ;  and  if  haply  the  Executive  should,  also  hold  this  view,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  how  any  of  the  prisoners  will  be  able  to  follow  their 
ordinary  business  and  attend  to  those  commercial  affairs  in  which 
they  are  concerned  without  committing  some  breach  of  this  ridiculous 
provision. 

No  answer  was  received  to  the  many  representations  made  on  behalf 
of  the  four  leaders,  except  that  the  Government  were  busy  vsdth  the 
matter.  Upon  the  release  of  the  other  prisoners  it  was  suggested  to 
them  by  friends  outside  that  it  would  be  a  proper  and  politic  course  to 
proceed  in  a  body  to  the  Presidency  and  thank  the  President  for  the 
action  he  had  taken  in  their  respect,  and  at  the  same  time  to  beg  of 
him  to  extend  a  similar  clemency  to  the  four  leaders  who  were  still 
left  in  gaol.  Most  of  the  men  were  dead  against  taking  any  such 
action.  They  held  very  strongly  to  the  opinion  that  they  had  been 
arrested  by  treachery,  condemned  by  arrangement,  and  played  with  as 
counters  in  an  unscrupulous  manner.  They  recognised  no  obligation 
towards  the  President.     They  could  see  no  magnanimity  in  a  policy 


216  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

which  had  secured  their  arrest  under  the  circumstances  described, 
which  inveigled  them  into  pleading  guilty  to  a  nominal  offence,  and 
which  imposed  upon  them  a  sentence  such  as  that  passed.  They 
considered  the  enormous  fine  which  they  were  then  called  upon  to 
pay,  to  say  nothing  of  the  imprisonment  which  they  had  already 
suffered,  wholly  disproportionate  to  the  offence,  and  their  natural 
impulse  was  to  avoid  the  man  who  was  directly  responsible  for  it  all, 
or  at  least  not  to  meet  him  under  circumstances  so  unequal,  when  they 
would  be  sure  to  be  insulted,  and  would  be  obliged  to  suffer  the  insult 
in  silence. 

Some  of  them,  however,  yielded  to  the  representations  of  their 
friends,  who  considered  that  it  should  be  done  for  the  sEike  of  the  men 
who  were  not  yet  released :  whilst  there  were  others  who  expressed 
the  view  that  they  would  rather  go  back  and  do  their  imprisonment 
than  suffer  the  humiliation  which  it  was  proposed  to  inflict ;  that  they 
would  not  do  it  for  themselves,  and  they  could  not  bring  themselves 
to  do  it  for  anybody  else.  A  considerable  number  of  the  prisoners 
called  upon  His  Honour;  and  this  was  the  'dog'  interview.  After 
hearing  the  address  of  the  men,  the  President  proceeded  to  pat  him- 
self and  his  people  on  the  back,  saying  that  he  knew  he  had  behaved 
with  great  magnanimity  and  moderation,  and  that  he  hoped  that  such 
generosity  would  not  be  entirely  thrown  away. 

'  You  must  know,'  he  said,  *  that  I  sometimes  have  to  punish  my 
dogs ;  and  I  find  that  there  are  dogs  of  two  kinds.  Some  of  them 
who  are  good  come  back  and  lick  my  boots.  Others  get  away  at  a 
distance  and  snarl  at  me.  I  see  that  some  are  still  snarling.  I  am 
glad  that  you  are  not  like  them.' 

Those  among  his  hearers  who  could  understand  His  Honour's 
remarks,  although  they  had  been  prepared  for  much,  were  certainly 
not  prepared  for  this.  The  interpreter  stood  for  a  moment  without 
rendering  into  English  the  metaphor  chosen  by  the  worthy  President, 
and  even  His  Honour — slow  to  perceive  where  he  has  transgressed 
the  limits  of  etiquette  and  good  breeding — gathered  from  the  expres- 
sions upon  the  faces  that  something  was  wrong,  and  turning  to  the 
interpreter,  said: 

'  Oh,  that's  only  my  joke  1     Don't  interpret  that  to  them.' 

But  those  who  witnessed  it  say  that  there  was  no  joke  in  his  voice  or 
his  eye  as  he  said  it.  Proceeding  then  with  more  circumspection,  he 
walked  out  his  dog  in  another  form,  and  said  that  it  was  very  well  to 
punish  the  little  dogs  as  he  had  punished  them,  but  somebody  should 
also  punish  the  big  dog — evidently  referring  to  Mr.  Ehodes — and  in  the 
course  of  a  homily  he  again  mixed  his  parable,  sticking  all  the  time  to 
his  dog,  however,  remarking,  in  conclusion,  that  it  was  very  well  to 
punish  the  dogs,  but  what  was  to  happen  to  the  owner  of  the  dogs, 
who  stood  by  urging  them  on  and  crying  '  Tsaa  '  ? 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  217 

Throughout  the  week  His  Honour  continued  to  make  the  homely 
dog  work  to  good  purpose,  but  the  interview  with  the  released 
Reformers  was,  it  is  believed,  the  first  occasion  upon  which  he  made 
use  of  it.  Certainly  on  no  other  occasion  did  the  President  do  such 
ample  justice  to  his  reputation  as  a  finished  diplomat. 

In  the  meantime  negotiations  had  been  proceeding  for  obtaining  the 
release  of  the  leaders.  The  friends  and  representatives  of  the  four 
prisoners  had  become  subject  to  all  manner  of  attentions  from  numbers 
of  people  in  Pretoria;  near  relations  of  the  President  himself,  high- 
placed  Government  officials,  their  relatives,  hangers-on,  prominent 
Boers,  and  persons  of  all  sorts  and  descriptions,  all  offered  their 
services  and  indicated  means  by  which  the  thing  could  be  arranged. 
All  wanted  money — personal  bribes.  The  prisoners  themselves  were 
similarly  approached,  and  they  who  a  month  previously  had  been  con- 
demned to  death  witnessed  with  disgust  a  keen  competition  among 
their  enemies  for  the  privilege  of  effecting — at  a  price — their  release. 
Day  after  day  they  were  subjected  to  the  disgusting  importunities  of 
these  men— men  who  a  little  while  before  had  been  vaunting  their 
patriotism  and  loudly  expressing  a  desire  to  prove  it  by  hanging  these 
same  Reformers. 

The  gaoler  Du  Plessis,  representing  himself  as  having  been  sent  by 
the  President,  suggested  to  the  four  men  that  they  should  '  make  a 
petition.'  They  declined  to  do  so.  Du  Plessis  was  then  reinforced  by 
the  Chief  Commissioner  of  Police,  and  the  two  oflicials  again  urged 
this  course,  but  stated  that  they  did  not  wish,  it  to  be  known  that  they 
had  been  sent  by  the  Executive,  and  therefore  could  not  consent  to 
their  names  being  used.  Upon  these  terms  the  prisoners  again 
declined.  They  said  that  if  they  were  to  hold  any  communication 
with  the  Government,  they  required  to  have  it  on  record  that  they  did 
so  at  the  suggestion  of  the  two  responsible  gaol  ofiicials  who  repre- 
sented themselves  as  expressing  the  wish  of  the  Executive  Council. 
After  further  delay  and  consultations  with  the  President  and  others 
the  two  officials  above  named  consented  to  allow  their  names  to  be 
used  in  the  manner  indicated.  Not  content  with  this,  the  prisoners 
demanded  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  send  an  independent  mes- 
senger to  the  President  to  ascertain  whether  he  really  required  a 
written  appeal  for  revision  of  sentence.  Having  received  confirmation 
in  this  manner,  the  four  men  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Executive 
Council.  In  this  letter  they  stated  that  they  had  been  sentenced  to 
death ;  that  the  death  sentence  had  been  commuted ;  and  that  they 
understood — but  had  received  no  authoritative  information  on  the 
subject — that  they  were  to  suffer  instead  a  term  of  fifteen  years' 
imprisonment.  They  suggested  the  imposition  of  a  monetary  penalty 
in  place  of  the  imprisonment ;  they  stated  that  they  held  and  repre- 
sented important  interests  in  the  State,  and  that  they  beHeved  their 


218  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

release  would  tend  to  the  restoration  of  confidence  and  favourable 
conditions  in  the  business  community  of  the  Rand;  and  they 
concluded  by  saying  that,  if  the  Executive  saw  fit  to  adopt  this 
suggestion,  they — the  prisoners — would  return  to  their  business  in 
good  faith. 

It  had  frequently  been  intimated  to  these  men  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  the  Government  to  impose  a  fine  in  place  of  the  death 
sentence  because  money  so  obtained  would  be  blood-money.  Reference 
had  been  made  in  the  Executive  Council  to  biblical  precedents,  notably 
the  case  of  Judas,  and  the  opinion  was  held  that  if  blood-money  were 
taken  the  Lord  would  visit  His  wrath  upon  the  people. 

The  Boers  are  in  their  way  a  very  religious  people.  But  they  are 
also  essentially  practical ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  an  instance  in 
which  the  religious  principle  has  operated  to  their  commercial  dis- 
advantage. This,  at  any  rate,  was  not  one.  The  train  of  reasoning 
which  led  them  to  justify  the  imposition  of  a  fine  was  somewhat  in 
this  wise  :  To  impose  a  fine  would  be  to  take  blood-money,  and  would 
be  immoral  and  iniquitous ;  to  accept  the  offer  of  a  present  on  con- 
dition that  the  sentence  should  be  entirely  remitted,  however,  would 
be  quite  another  thing. 

So  negotiations  were  set  on  foot  to  induce  the  prisoners  to  make  the 
necessary  offer,  and  the  prisoners,  as  has  been  shown,  did  so.  This 
satisfied  the  religious  scruple  of  the  Boer,  but  the  terms  of  the  offer 
were  not  satisfactory  to  his  commercial  requirements.  It  became 
necessary  to  make  a  definite  offer.  Further  negotiations  followed,  and 
the  prisoners  gathered  that  an  offer  of  ^10,000  apiece  would  be  viewed 
with  favour  by  the  President  a,nd  his  advisers ;  and  it  was  stated  by 
members  of  the  Volksraad  and  prominent  officials  who  were  in  the 
confidence  of  and  in  communication  with  the  Government  that,  in  the 
event  of  such  a  contingency  arising  as  the  prisoners  making  an  offer  of 
cash,  the  Executive  would  not  take  the  money  for  the  benefit  of  the 
State,  but  would  accept  it  for  charitable  purposes — an  educational 
institute  or  a  hospital,  or  some  such  object. 

This  was  communicated  to  the  prisoners  by  the  personages  referred 
to,  and  an  offer  was  accordingly  made  of  ^10,000  apiece.  The  matter 
was  discussed  in  the  Executive  Council,  and  the  Boer,  true  to  his 
instinct  and  record,  perceived  an  opportunity  -jO  improve  his  position. 
The  religious  gentlemen  who  would  not  take  blood-money  now  objected 
that  the  amount  proposed  was  altogether  too  small,  and  the  President, 
with  that  readiness  so  characteristic  of  him,  observed  that  he  thought 
the  prisoners  must  have  made  a  mistake,  and  meant  dG40,000  apiece 
instead  of  i'40,000  for  the  lot. 

Another  delay  ensued,  and  in  the  meanwhile  more  and  more  deputies 
flocked  to  Pretoria,  and  stronger  grew  the  feeling,  and  more  angry, 
disappointed,  and  disgusted  /rew  the  communities  of  Johannesburg 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  219 

and  Pretoria.  The  President,  however,  played  his  game  unmoved  by 
any  such  considerations. 

The  next  announcement  from  the  Executive  was  a  wholly  un- 
expected one.  It  was  that  they  felt  it  necessary  t^ consult  Judge 
Gregorowski  as  to  the  amount  of  money  which  ought  to  be  taken  as  a 
donation  to  charities.  The  matter  of  assessing  the  value  of  a  death- 
sentence  in  cash  might  perhaps  be  deemed  a  perplexing  and  a  difficult 
one  from  lack  of  precedent,  yet  nobody  supposed  the  Executive  Council 
to  be  unequal  to  the  task.  It  might  also  seem  unfair  to  impose  this 
fm-ther  burden  of  responsibility  upon  a  judge,  but  Mr.  Gregorowski 
had  proved  himself  superior  to  precedent  and  untrammelled  by  custom  ; 
and  there  was  much  to  be  said  in  favour  of  continuing  an  association 
which  had  worked  very  satisfactorily  so  far. 

When,  however,  the  President,  with  that  resolute  determination  to 
be  generous  which  was  so  well  advertised,  at  last  overcame  all  obstacles 
and  succeeded  in  holding  a  meeting  of  his  advisers  to  receive  Mr. 
Gregorowski's  report,  and  when  it  was  found  that  that  gentleman 
assessed  capital  punishment  at  £25,000  per  head,  the  Executive  Council 
with  one  accord  avowed  themselves  to  be  so  utterly  taken  by  surprise 
by  the  announcement  that  they  required  time  to  think  the  matter  over 
and  decide  upon  a  course  of  action. 

No  doubt  this  opinion  of  Mr.  Gregorowski's  took  them  quite  as  much 
by  surprise  as  did  his  original  sentences.  However,  in  the  course  of  a 
day  or  two  they  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  intimate  to  the  prisoners 
that,  if  they  would  amend  their  first  offer  of  £40,000  for  the  four  and 
make  it  one  of  £40,000  apiece,  the  Executive  would  decline  to  accept 
so  large  a  sum,  as  being  greater  than  they  con'feidered  equitable,  and 
would  reply  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  Government  £25,000  apiece 
would  be  sufficient.  It  was  quite  plainly  intimated  that  this  procedure 
presented  certain  attractions  to  the  President,  who  desired  for  political 
purposes  to  exhibit  further  magnanimity.  The  prisoners,  who  by  this 
time  had  gained  some  insight  into  Mr.  Kruger's  methods,  who  knew 
from  past  experience  the  value  of  his  promises,  and  who  could  find  no 
record  in  history  to  encourage  them  in  participating  to  this  extent  in 
the  confidence  trick,  point-blank  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  it. 

They  agreed  to  make  a  formal  offer  of  a  '  reasonable  '  fine,  leaving 
the  interpretation  of  this  to  the  Government,  but  only  on  the  distinct 
understanding  that  the  amount  should  not  exceed  £25,000  each.  They 
had  learned  that  Mr.  Gregorowski  had  fixed  this  amount,  and  that  the 
Executive  had  agreed  to  accept  it,  and  they  would  not  offer  a  penny 
more  for  magnanimity  or  anything  else.  They  stated  in  plain  terms 
that  they  looked  upon  this  matter  simply  as  a  bargain  ;  that  if  they 
should  get  out  they  were  paying  their  way  out,  and  that  in  so  far  as 
their  release  from   the  position  was  concerned  the  transaction  was 


220  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

closed  upon  business  terms,  and  there  should  be  no  question  afterwards 
as  to  gratitude  or  magnanimity.  The  fines  were  paid,i  and  on  June  11 
the  leaders  were  released. 

Messrs.  Phillips,  Farrar,  and  Hammond,  who  were  compelled 
through  their  business  ties  to  continue  their  association  with  the 
Transvaal,  signed  the  same  undertaking  concerning  polities  as  that 
given  by  the  rest  of  the  prisoners — with  the  difference  that  in  their 
case  it  operates  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  Colonel  Rhodes,  how- 
ever, declined  to  give  the  required  undertaking,  and  elected  to  take  his 
sentence  of  fifteen  years'  banishment.  On  the  night  of  June  11,  there- 
fore, he  was  sent  across  the  border  under  escort,  and  passing  through 
the  Free  State,  proceeded  at  once  to  Matabeleland  to  render  what 
assistance  he  could  to  his  brother  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 
As  though  the  excitement  of  the  past  few  months  had  not  been  suf- 
ficient, it  may  be  added  that  in  the  first  engagement  in  which  he  took 
part  on  his  arrival  at  Buluwayo  his  horse  was  shot,  and  he  narrowly 
escaped  the  same  fate  himself. 

From  time  to  time  adverse  comment  has  been  made  on  the  subject 
of  this  undertaking  of  the  Reformers  to  abstain  from  further  participa- 
tion in  politics.  The  position  of  the  Reformers  was  this :  They  had 
entered  upon  the  movement  to  obtain  the  redress  of  certain  matters 
closely  affecting  their  feeUngs  as  men  and  their  interests  and  business 
as  settlers  in  the  country.  They  were  disarmed  and  placed  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Boer  Government  by  the  action  of  England's  repre- 
sentative. To  decline  to  give  the  pledge  required  would  entail  banish- 
ment, which  would  in  many  cases  mean  ruin  to  them,  and  in  all  cases 
would  remove  them  from  the  sphere  in  which  they  might  yet  con- 
tribute to  the  attainment  of  the  ends  they  had  in  view.  The  only 
compensating  consideration  possible  in  such  a  course  would  be  that 
the  redress  desired  would  be  effected  through  the  influence  of  the 
Imperial  Government ;  but  since  the  Imperial  Government  had  shown 
that  under  the  circumstances  they  were  neither  willing  nor  able  to 
maintain  to  a  logical'  conclusion  the  position  which  they  took  up  when 
they  secured  disarmament,  the  Reformers  concluded  that  their  obvious 
course  was  to  give  the  required  undertaking.  It  is  true  that  several 
among  them  did  decline  to  give  this  undertaking,  saying  that  they 
would  prefer  to  serve  their  terms  of  imprisonment ;  but  they  received 
the  answer  that  after  the  term  of  two  years'  imprisonment  the  Govern- 
ment would  still  require  the  undertaking  or  enforce  the  banishment 
clause,  so  that  it  appeared  to  them  there  was  no  way  out  of  it  but  to 
sign  what  was  required  and  wait  patiently. 

It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  one  of  two  alternatives  will  present  itself. 
Either  the  Government  will  come  to  regard  this  provision  as  a  dead 

^  It  seems  like  reflecting  on  the  reader's  intelligence  to  add  that  nothing 
more  has  been  heard  of  the  '  charities. ' 


LIFE  IN  GAOL  221 

letter,  and  wholly  ignore  it ;  or  some  of  the  men,  in  the  course  of  their 
business  and  in  deahng  with  economic  questions  such  as  they  are 
morally  entitled  to  discuss,  will  fall  foul  of  the  '  opinion  of  the  Executive.' 
The  issue  will  then  be  a  very  clear  one,  and  many  of  those  who  were 
strongly  opposed  to  the  Eeformers  on  the  premisses  on  which  they 
started  will  find  themselves  in  cordial  agreement  with  them  in  later 
developments.! 

The  Reform  movement  closed  for  the  time  being  with  the  release  of 
the  leaders.  Sixty-four  men  had  been  committed  for  trial.  From 
four  of  them  the  Government  had  received  ^100,000,  and  from  fifty- 
six  others  ^112,000.  One  was  dead ;  one  had  fallen  so  seriously  ill 
before  the  trial  that  he  was  unable  to  present  himself  with  the  rest, 
but  on  recovering  and  announcing  his  intention  to  plead  '  Not  guilty ' 
and  fight  it  out,  the  case  against  him  was  withdrawn. 

There  remained  two  men,  Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies,  whose  case 
the  Government  had  refused  to  consider  because  they  declined  to 
appeal.  They  had  been  sentenced  on  April  28  to  two  years'  imprison- 
ment and  d£2,000  fine,  or  failing  payment,  to  another  year's  imprison- 
ment, and  to  three  years'  banishment ;  and  under  that  sentence  do 
they  lie  at  the  present  moment  in  the  Pretoria  Gaol,  at  the  mercy  of 
the  Boer  Government  and  its  very  competent  representative  Mr.  Du 
Plessis.^ 

^  (July,  1899.)  A  clear  indication  of  the  Government's  disposition  towards 
the  Reformers  was  given  b}?  the  treatment  accorded  to  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips. 
In  consequence  of  a  publication  by  Sir  John  Willoughby  of  an  article  on  the 
subject  of  the  Raid,  which  failed  to  accurately  re[)rcsent  the  facts  as  they 
wei'e  present  to  the  minds  of  the  Reformers,  Mr.  Phillips  wrote  an  article  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century  magazine,  which  was  purely  historical,  moderate  in 
tone,  and  obviously  designed  only  as  an  answer  to  the  allegations  which  had 
been  made.  The  Executive  Council  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was  a 
breach  of  his  undertaking  to  abstain  from  interference  in  politics,  and  they 
issued  a  decree  of  banishment  against  him.  As  Mr.  Phillips  had  taken  up  his 
residence  permanently  in  Europe,  and  as  it  was  well  known  that  it  would  be 
extremely  inconvenient  for  him  to  return  to  Soiith  Africa  in  order  to  dispute 
this  action,  it  was  generally  considered  that  the  object  of  the  move  was  to 
establish  a  precedent,  so  to  say,  on  the  cheap,  and  in  the  same  spirit  to 
intimidate  others  among  the  Reformers  who  were  believed  not  to  l)ave  lost 
their  interest  in  the  cause  of  reform  nor  to  have  abandoned  their  intention  to 
begin  again  as  soon  as  they  were  free  to  do  so.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
tuat  scarcely  a  week  could  have  passed  during  the  last  two  and  a  half  years  in 
which  some  or  all  of  the  half  dozen  Uitlanders  most  prominent  in  the  cause 
of  reform  have  not  been  in  receipt  of  a  warning  of  one  kind  or  another, 
ranging  from  apparently  friendly  advice  not  to  take  too  keen  an  interest  in 
certain  matters,  up  to  the  giddy  eminence  of  being  black-listed  in  the  Dutch 
papers  as  one  of  those  to  be  dragged  out  and  shot  without  trial  as  a  traitor 
and  a  rebel.  Such  are  the  conditions  under  which  the  unarmed  Uitlanders 
labour  for  reform. 

^  (July,  1899.)  Du  Plessis  was  promoted  to  be  Chief  Inspector  of  Prisons 
sliortly  after  the  release  of  Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies,  and  still  holds  that 
post ! 


222  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Much  kudos  has  accrued  to  Mr.  Kruger  for  his  magnanimity  and 
much  profit  for  his  astuteness  1  Great  credit  is  also  given  to  Mr. 
Chamberlain  for  his  prompt  impartiality.  And  surely  some  day  a 
tribute  of  sympathy  and  admiration  will  go  out  from  a  people  who 
like  pluck  and  who  love  fair  play  to  two  Englishmen  who  hold  that  a 
solemn  pledge  is  something  which  even  a  Boer  should  hold  to,  whilst 
self-respect  is  more  than  liberty  and  beyond  all  price. 


PART  II.—A  POSTSCRIPT 
CHAPTEE  X 

THREE    years'    GRACE 

Very  seldom  has  any  community  been  in  a  position  so  unsatisfactory 
as  that  in  which  the  people  of  Johannesburg  found  themselves  in 
the  year  1896.  Judgments  passed  in  the  heat  of  the  moment  upon 
matters  which  had  not  been  properly  explained,  and  which  in  many 
cases  were  completely  obscured  by  deliberate  misrepresentation,  had 
incurred  for  the  community  dislike,  contempt,  and  mistrust  which 
were  wholly  undeserved.  Those  who  knew  the  facts,  and  who  were 
able  and  willing  to  speak — the  Reformers  themselves — were  bonded 
to  abstain  from  politics  for  three  years  under  penalty  of  banishment. 
Betrayed,  deserted,  muzzled,  helpless,  hopeless,  and  divided,  no  com- 
munity could  have  been  in  a  more  unsatisfactory  condition.  It  was- 
abundantly  clear  that  the  time  had  been  allowed  to  pass  when  the 
Imperial  Government  might  have  insisted  upon  reforms  and  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  President's  promises — not  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  had 
been  made,  but  in  the  spirit  in  which  the  President  himself  had  in- 
tended the  world  to  construe  them.  The  impact  of  the  revelations 
was  too  great  to  permit  of  public  judgment  quickly  recovering  its 
balance.  It  was  realized  that  Mr.  Kruger' s  effects  had  been  admirably 
stage-managed,  and  that  for  the  time  being,  and  possibly  for  a  very 
considerable  time,  the  Uitlanders  were  completely  out  of  court.  There 
were  a  few — but  how  few  1 — whose  faith  was  great  and  whose  convic- 
tion that  the  truth  must  prevail  was  abiding,  who  realized  that  there 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  begin  all  over  again — to  begin  and  to  perse- 
vere upon  sound  lines ;  and  they  took  heart  of  such  signs  as  there  were 
and  started  afresh. 

It  has  been  an  article  of  faith  with  them  that  Mr.  Kruger  missed 
his  supreme  chance  at  the  time  of  the  trial  of  the  Eeformers,  and  that 
from  the  date  of  the  death- sentence  his  judgment  and  his  luck  have 
failed  him.  He  abused  his  good  fortune  and  the  luck  turned,  so  they 
say ;  and  the  events  of  the  last  three  years  go  to  support  that  impres 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  223 

sion.  To  his  most  faithful  ally  amongst  the  Uitlanders  the  President, 
in  the  latter  days  of  1896,  commented  adversely  upon  the  ingratitude 
of  those  Keformers  who  had  not  called  to  thank  him  for  his  mag- 
nanimity ;  and  this  man  replied  :  '  You  must  stop  talking  about  that, 
President,  because  people  are  laughing  at  you.  You  made  a  bargain 
with  them  and  they  paid  the  price  you  asked,  so  now  they  owe  you 
nothing.'  But  His  Honour  angrily  repudiated  that  construction ; 
nothing  will  convert  him  to  that  view. 

It  has  been  said  that  Dr.  Jameson  is  the  best  friend  Paul  Kruger 
ever  had,  and  with  equal  truth  it  may  be  said  that  in  1896  President 
Kruger  proved  himself  to  be  the  best  friend  of  the  Eeformers.  Not 
even  the  most  sanguine  of  his  enemies  could  have  expected  to  witness 
the  impolitic  and  unjust  acts  by  which  the  President  revealed  himself, 
vindicated  the  Eeformers,  and  undermined  a  position  of  unparalleled 
strength  in  an  incredibly  short  time.  The  bargaining  and  the  bad 
grace  which  marked  the  release  of  the  Reformers  had  prepared  the 
world  to  view  Mr.  Kruger's  action  and  attitude  a  little  more  critically 
than  it  had  hitherto  been  disposed  to  do.  The  real  conditions  of 
Dr.  Jameson's  surrender  had  also  become  known,  and  although  the 
action  of  the  Boer  leaders  was  regarded  as  far  too  trifling  a  matter 
to  be  seriously  considered  as  against  the  Raid  itself,  nevertheless  a 
residuum  of  impression  was  left  which  helped  to  form  opinion  at  a 
later  stage.  There  followed,  too,  an  irritating  correspondence  between 
the  Transvaal  and  Imperial  Governments,  in  the  course  of  which 
Dr.  Leyds  successfully  established  his  skill  as  a  smart  letter-writer 
and  his  limitations  as  a  statesman.  The  Municipal  Law,  the  first 
product  of  the  '  forget  and  forgive '  proclamation — which  proclama- 
tion, by-the-by,  had  already  begun  to  prove  itself  an  awkward 
weapon  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies  by  President  Kruger  him- 
self—had been  exposed  and  denounced  as  farcical,  and  it  now  required 
but  little  to  convince  the  once  admiring  world  of  the  President's  real 
character  and  intentions.  That  little  was  forthcoming  in  a  touch  of 
ridicule  more  potent  than  all  arguments. 

The  Transvaal  Government  formulated  their  demand  for  damages 
for  the  Raid  in  a  form  which  made  everyone  smile — ^6677,938  3s.  3d. 
for  actual  outlay,  and  ^1,000,000  for  '  Moral  and  Intellectual 
Damages.'  What  with  the  fines  of  the  Reformers  and  the  seizure  of 
the  provisions  of  all  sorts  acquired  by  them  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Reform  movement,  which  latter  must  have  exceeded  ^£50,000  in  value, 
the  Boer  Government  had  already  received  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million,  and  had,  in  fact,  made  a  profit  on  the  Raid ;  so  that  this 
demand  came  as  a  surprise  even  to  the  Uitlanders,  as  much,  perhaps, 
due  to  the  extraordinary  phrasing  of  the  demand  as  to  the  amount 
claimed. 

It  may  be  wondered  why,  under  provocation  so  great  as  that  of 


224  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

complete  abandonment  by  the  country  whose  representative  had 
placed  them  in  their  then  hopeless  position,  no  distinct  movement 
took  place — no  tendency  even  developed  itself — among  the  Uitlanders 
generally  to  unite  with  the  Boers  in  favour  of  a  Republican  move- 
ment throughout  South  Africa,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Imperial  power. 
In  answer  to  this  it  must  be  said  that  such  an  idea  undoubtedly  did 
take  strong  hold  of  the  non-British  portion  of  the  Uitlander  popula- 
tion, as  witness  the  manner  in  which  the  Cape  Colony  Dutchmen, 
Hollanders,  Germans,  and  individuals  of  other  European  nationalities 
associated  themselves  with  the  Boer  party,  almost  invariably  by  open 
declaration,  and  in  many  cases  even  by  naturalization,  thus  forfeiting 
their  own  national  rights  and  obtaining  nothing  but  vague  promises 
and  the  liability  to  military  service  in  return.  But  the  Republican 
movement  made  no  further  headway  than  this  because  British  subjects 
formed  the  large  majority  of  the  Uitlanders.  They  had,  it  is  true,  a 
great  grievance  against  the  Imperial  Government,  but  against  the 
Transvaal  Government  they  had  one  greater  still ;  and  it  would  take 
a  great  deal  to  kill  the  passionate  loyalty  of  the  British  South  African. 
It  would  be  idle  to  discuss  what  might  have  happened  had  Mr.  Kruger 
seized  his  opportunity  and  let  in  a  considerable  section  of  the  then 
unenfranchised  to  strengthen  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party ;  that 
can  only  be  a  matter  of  individual  conjecture.  What  is  certain,  how- 
ever, is  that  he  did  not  do  so,  and  never  intended  to  do  so ;  wherein 
his  lack  of  statesmanship  is  again  made  manifest. 

Mr.  Kruger  has  carried  out  in  its  fullest  (its  best  or  its  worst)  the 
characteristic  principle  of  his  people  already  referred  to — that  of 
giving  too  little  and  asking,  too  much.  It  is  doing  only  bare  justice 
to  the  determination  with  which  he  adheres  to  the  policy  of  his  life  to 
say  that  he  gives  nothing  to  anybody.  From  the  most  distant  to  the 
nearest  he  deals  alike  with  aU.  With  the  people  of  Europe,  he  has 
taxed  their  investments,  disregarded  their  interests  and  flouted  their 
advice ;  but,  nevertheless,  he  has  for  years  commanded  their  moral 
support.  In  his  dealings  with  the  British  Government,  pushed  as 
they  have  been  some  half  a  dozen  times  to  the  very  verge  of  war,  he 
has  invariably  come  off  with  something  for  nothing.  In  his  dealings 
with  the  Uitlanders  he  has  bartered  promises  and  in  return — circum- 
spice  I  In  the  matter  of  the  events  of  1895-96  he  came  out  with  a 
quarter  of  a  million  in  cash,  a  claim  for  ^1,677,938  8s.  3d.  (including 
'  Moral  and  Intellectual  Damages '),  and  a  balance  of  injured  innocence 
which  may  not  be  expressed  in  figures.  In  his  dealings  with  Cape 
Colony  he  has  taxed  the  products  of  their  land  and  industry ;  he  went 
to  the  verge  of  war  to  destroy  their  trade  in  the  case  of  the  closing  of 
the  Vaal  River  drifts  ;  he  has  permitted  the  Netherlands  Railway  to  so 
arrange  its  tariffs  as  to  divert  traffic  from  them  to  other  parts ;  he  has 
refused  to  their  people  (his  own  flesh  and  blood,  among  whom  he  was 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  225 

born)  the  most  elementary  rights  when  they  settle  in  his  country  1 
And  yet  in  his  need  he  calls  upon  them,  and  they  come  1  His  treat- 
ment of  the  Orange  Free  State  has  been  exactly  the  same.  Their 
grievance  against  him  is  incomparably  worse,  because  of  their  liability 
to  become  involved  in  the  consequences  of  a  policy  which  they  are 
not  allowed  to  influence.  But  President  Kruger  is,  above  all  things, 
practical.  Everything  is  gauged  by  the  measure  of  the  advantage 
which  it  can  bring  to  him ;  and  his  treatment  of  the  Free  State  is 
determined  by  their  utility  to  him  and  his  power  over  them,  and  is 
not  influenced  by  their  moral  claims  upon  his  goodwill.  Natal  and 
Portugal  have  their  experience  of  broken  agreements  and  strained 
interpretations,  of  intrigues  with  native  subjects  and  neighbours  for 
the  extension  of  rights  or  boundaries,  all  designed  to  benefit  the  Trans- 
vaal and  to  undermine  them.  All,  all  with  the  same  result !  Some- 
thing for  nothing  1  Within  the  borders  of  the  Transvaal  the  policy  is 
the  same.  Moral  rights  and  the  claims  of  justice  are  unrecognized. 
For  services  rendered  there  may  be  some  return — a  privilege,  a  con- 
tract, an  appointment.  But  this  cannot  be  properly  regarded  as  a 
neglect  of  principle  upon  Mr.  Kruger's  part,  for,  after  all,  the  reward 
is  at  the  expense  of  the  Uitlanders.  It  is  usually  the  least  price  at 
which  the  service  could  be  secured ;  and  it  is  generally  in  such  form 
as  to  give  the  recipient  a  profit  in  which  the  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment party  largely  share ;  but  it  never  confers  a  power  to  which  the 
President  himself  is  not  superior;  indeed,  it  is  almost  invariably 
hedged  about  by  such  conditions  as  to  maike  its  continuance  depen- 
dent upon  the  President's  goodwill. 

If  anyone  should  think  this  description  of  conditions  in  the  Trans- 
vaal and  of  the  President's  policy  to  be  unduly  harsh,  let  him  satisfy 
himself  by  an  investigation  of  those  matters  which  appear  on  merely 
superficial  examination  to  support  opinions  contrary  to  those  expressed 
by  the  writer.  Let  him  examine  the  terms  of  the  closer  union  with 
the  Free  State,  the  circumstances  leading  to  the  closing  of  the  Vaal 
Eiver  drifts,  the  condition  of  the  Dutch  subjects  of  Cape  Colony  and 
of  the  Orange  Free  State  in  the  Transvaal,  the  Netherlands  Eailway 
tariffs  as  they  operate  against  Cape  Colony  and  the  Free  State,  the 
Eailway  Agreement  with  Natal,  the  disputes  with  Portugal,  the 
attempts  to  acquire  native  territory  on  the  East  Coast,  the  terms  of 
the  Netherlands  Eailway  Concession,  Selati  Eailway  Concession, 
Dynamite  Concession  —  in  fact,  all  other  concessions,  monopolies, 
contracts,  privileges,  appointments,  and  rights,  made,  granted,  or 
entered  into  by  President  Elruger  to  or  with  his  friends.  Let  him 
recall  the  treatment  and  the  fate  of  some  of  those  to  whom  ampler 
reference  will  be  made  later  on ;  for  instance.  Chief  Justice  Kotze  and 
Judge  Ameshof,  who  in  the  dealings  with  the  Eeformers  rendered 
valuable — but  perhaps  injudicious  and  unjudicial — service,  as  already 

15  " 


226  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

sufficiently  described  ;  the  treatment  of  Dr.  Coster,  the  State  Attorney, 
who  also  deserved  better  of  the  President ;  the  public  repudiation  of 
Mr.  J.  B.  Robinson,  whose  friendship  for  President  Kruger  had  been 
frequently  and  amply  evidenced  to  the  grave  dissatisfaction  of  the 
Uitlander  population ;  the  public  and  insulting  repudiation  of  Sir 
Henry  de  Villiers,  the  Chief  Justice  of  Cape  Colony,  after  he  had 
served  his  purpose  1  The  result  of  any  such  inquiry  must  confirm  the 
conclusion  that  '  something  for  nothing '  is  the  President's  poHcy  and 
achievement. 

A  policy  or  a  movement  which  is  to  involve  the  co-operation  of 
thousands  of  intelligent  men  cannot  be  carried  out  upon  such  terms, 
and  this  may  be  regarded  as  the  main  reason  why  the  spirit  of 
Republicanism  did  not  generally  develop  itself  under  circumstances 
apparently  so  favourable  to  it.  The  President's  policy  may  be  con- 
sidered astute  or  unwise  according  to  the  point  of  view  from  which  it 
is  regarded.  Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  State  itself,  un- 
doubtedly it  fails  lamentably  in  statesmanship.  In  the  interests  of 
the  Boer  party,  however,  or  of  the  man  Paul  Kruger,  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  the  policy  may  not  be  a  token  of  remarkable 
sagacity.  He  knows  his  own  limitations  and  the  limitations  of  his 
people.  He  knows  that  to  freely  admit  to  a  share  in  the  Government 
a  number  of  intelligent  people  would  make  a  continuance  of  himself 
or  his  party  in  absolute  power  for  any  length  of  time  a  matter  of  utter 
impossibility.  In  these  circumstances  the  problem  which  President 
Kruger  had  set  himself  was  a  remarkably  difficult  one.  To  repubUcanize 
South  Africa,  to  secm:e  the  support  of  the  majority  of  the  white 
inhabitants,  and  yet  to  yield  no  whit  of  power  to  those  by  whose  aid 
he  would  achieve  his  object,  would  indeed  be  carrying  to  sublime 
heights  the  policy  of  '  something  for  nothing.' 

Many  years  before  the  Raid  Mr.  Kruger  had  a  well-defined  policy  to 
republicanize  South  Africa,  and  the  Uitlanders  of  the  Transvaal  were 
quite  alive  to  it,  as  may  be  gathered  by  reference  to  their  newspapers. 
But  the  voice  was  as  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness  in  those  days, 
and,  as  has  been  said,  it  required  the  Jameson  Raid  to  advertise  the 
conditions  in  the  Transvaal,  and  to  direct  attention  to  what  had  been 
proclaimed  unheeded  for  many  years.  Immediately  prior  to  the  Raid 
Mr.  Kruger  was  floundering  in  a  morass  of  difficulties.  The  policy  of 
*  something  for  nothing '  had  been  exposed,  and  it  was  seen  through 
by  all  the  Dutchmen  in  South  Africa,  and  was  resented  by  aU  save  his 
own  little  party  in  the  Transvaal ;  but  the  Jameson  Raid  gave  the 
President  a  jumping-off  place  on  solid  ground,  and  he  was  not  slow  to 
take  advantage  of  it. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  vast  majority  of  people  in  Europe 
and  America  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Jameson  for  any  knowledge  which 
they  may  have  acquired  of  the  Transvaal  and  its  Uitlander  problem. 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  227 

Theirs  is  a  disordered  kno\vledge,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  unnatural  that 
they  should  in  a  manner  share  the  illusion  of  the  worthy  sailor  who, 
after  attending  Divine  service,  assaulted  the  first  Israelite  he  met 
because  he  had  only  just  heard  of  the  Crucifixion.  A  number  of  worthy 
people  are  still  disposed  to  excuse  many  things  in  the  Transvaal  bscause 
of  the  extreme  provocation  given  by  the  Jameson  Kaid.  The  restric- 
tions upon  English  education  are  considered  to  be  '  not  unnatural  when 
one  remembers  the  violent  attempt  to  swamp  the  Dutch.'  The  exces- 
sive armaments  are  held  to  be  '  entirely  justifiable,  considering  wh«;t 
has  happened.'  The  building  of  forts  is  '  an  ordinary  precaution.' 
The  prohibiting  of  public  meetings  is  '  quite  wrong,  of  course,  but  can 
you  wonder  at  it  ?'  Many  of  these  worthy  people  will,  no  doubt,  learn 
with  pained  surprise  that  all  these  things  were  among  the  causes  which 
led  to  the  Eeform  movement  of  1895-96,  and  are  not  the  consequences 
of  that  movement,  as  they  erroneously  suppose.  The  Press  Law  and 
Public  Meeting  Act  had  been  passed ;  arms  had  been  imported  and 
ordered  in  tens  of  thousands ;  machine  guns  and  quantities  of  am- 
munition also ;  forts  were  being  built  ;  ^  the  suppression  of  all  private 
schools  had  been  advocated  by  Dr.  Mansvelt — all  long,  long  before  the 
Jameson  Raid.  So  also  had  the  repubhcan  propaganda  been  at  work, 
but  it  had  not  caught  on  outside  the  two  Republics. 

Difficult  as  his  task  might  appear,  Mr.  Kruger  had  now  command  of 
the  two  great  persuasive  forces — money  and  sentiment.  With  the 
money  he  pushed  on  the  forts,  and  imported  immense  quantities  of 
big  guns,  small  arms,  and  ammunition — far  in  excess  of  what  could 
possibly  be  used  by  the  whole  of  the  Boer  population  of  the  Transvaal 
after  making  every  allowance  for  spare  arms  in  reserve  ;  and  such  an 
extraordinary  supply  was  not  unnaturally  believed  to  be  designed  for 
the  use  of  others  outside  the  Transvaal.  More  than  this,  an  army  of 
emissaries,  agents,  and  spies  in  the  pay  of  the  Transvaal  Government 
were  spread  about  the  Free  State,  Cape  Colony,  and  Natal.  News- 
papers were  supported  in  different  parts  of  South  Africa  and  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  money  was  spent  upon  the  Press  in  France  and 
Germany. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  suggest  and  it  would  be  imjust  to  let  it  be 

^  That  President  Kruger  always  contemplated  controlling  the  Ui blander 
population  by  arbitrary  methods  was  proved  by  the  choice  of  the  site  for  the 
Johannesburg  forfc.  This  site,  on  a  hill  commanding  the  town,  had  been 
reserved  by  Government  from  the  commencement,  and  when  the  accommoda- 
tion in  the  old  gaol  proved  insufficient  and  a  new  gaol  was  required,  it  was 
located  on  this  spot,  then  a  favourite  residential  quarter  of  the  town.  A 
'  putation  of  officials  waited  upon  the  President  to  urge  the  placing  of  the 

.  vv  gaol  in  a  more  convenient  locality  elsewhere.  His  Honour  replied  '  that 
lie  did  not  care  about  the  convenience.  He  was  going  to  build  the  gaol  there, 
because  some  day  the  town  would  be  troublesome,  and  he  would  want  to  con- 
vert the  gaol  into  a  fort  and  put  guns  there  before  that  time  came.'  That 
was  at  least  four  years  before  the  Raid. 

15—2 


228  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

inferred  that  all  those  v/ho  were  drawn  inta  sympathy  with  the  Boers 
supported  or  were  even  cognizant  of  President  Kruger's  ultimate  aim. 
It  is  an  ever3'day  experience  that  the  scope  of  work  and  ambition 
expands  as  one  progresses.  Whether  the  strong  man  really  sees  his 
ultimate  goal  and  tackles  with  magnificent  courage  the  innumerable 
and  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacles  which  lie  between  him  and  it, 
or  whether  in  the  wisdom  and  mercy  of  Providence  there  is  such  an 
adjustment  of  courage  and  foresight  as  prevents- him  from  seeing  more 
than  he  is  able  to  face,  who  can  say  ?  But  what  is  beyond  all  doubt 
is  that,  given  the  one  strong  man  who  does  know  his  mind,  he  will 
lead  as  the  Pied  Piper  led,  and  there  is  no  thought  in  his  following  to 
ask  the  whither  and  the  why. 

Given  the  sympathy  and  the  means,  the  difficulty  of  President 
Kj-uger's  self-imposed  task  was  not  so  great  as  at  first  appeared.  To 
some  it  was  advisable  to  do  no  more  than  point  to  the  Jameson  Raid 
and  say:  'We  only  wish  lo  Uve  in  peace  and  to  be  left  alone.'  To 
some  again  that  act  is  construed  as  a  sign  that  the  British  people  wish 
to  upset  the  two  Eepublies,  therefore  they  must  strengthen  and  be  pre- 
pared. To  others  the  appeal  is  made :  '  We  Dutch  are  the  settlers  and 
owTiers  of  the  country ;  we  wish  for  peace,  of  course,  but  we  must  dominate 
— you  under  your  government,  we  under  ours.'  To  others  again  it  is 
further  advanced :  '  Let  us  negotiate  the  elimination  of  the  Imperial 
power  ;  we  do  not  suggest  fight,  but  if  we  present  a  united  front  they 
must  retire  peacefully  and  concede  our  demands.'  And  lastly  comes 
the  appeal  to  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the  advanced  republicans : 
'  Arm  and  prepare.  Some  day  we  shall  find  England  in  a  difficulty, 
divided  by  party  or  hampered  by  external  complications  ;  it  has  often 
happened  before  and  w^e  have  always  profited.  That  wiU  be  our  time 
to  drive  them  out.' 

It  would  be  very  unjust  to  some  of  the  most  prominent  men  on  the 
Dutch  side  in  Cape  Colony  to  leave  the  slenderest  grounds  for  the 
inference  that  they  are  to  be  associated  with  the  extreme  and  actively 
disloyal  aim.  All  that  it  is  intended  to  do  is  to  indicate  the  fine 
gradations  in  arguments  by  which  a  number  are  drawn  together — 
Tinder  a  leadership  which  they  do  not  realize,  and  going  they  know  not 
where  I  The  strongest  of  these  arguments  and  appeals  are  particu- 
larly popular  with  the  younger  generation  of  Dutch  South  Africans, 
who  entertain  a  visionary  scheme  of  independence  suggested  by  the 
history  of  the  United  States.  But  there  is  something  more  serious  in 
it  than  this,  as  may  be  deduced  from  the  fact  that  in  December,  1896, 
the  writer  was  approached  by  I^Ir.  D.  P.  GraalT,  formerly  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Cape  Legislative  Council,  and  now  as  always  a  prominent 
Afrikander  Bondsman,  with  the  suggestion  that  all  the  South  African 
born  should  combine  in  the  effort  to  create  the  United  States  of  South 
Africa, '  upon  friendly  terms  with  England,  but  confining  the  direct* 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  229 

Imperial  right  in  South  Africa  to  a  naval  base  at  Pimonstown,  and 
possibly  a  position  in  Natal.'  This  concession — from  South  Africa  to 
England  —  would  not,  it  was  argued,  involve  disadvantage  to  the 
former,  because  for  a  considerable  time  it  would  bo  necessary  to  pro- 
serve  friendly  relations  with  England  and  to  have  the  protection  of 
her  fleet  for  the  coast. 

It  is  of  course  quite  easy  to  attach  too  much  importance  to  the 
opinions  of  individual  politicians  of  this  class,  who  are  as  a  rule  merely 
shouters  with  the  biggest  crowd  ;  but  the  prominent  association  of  such 
an  apostle  of  republicanism  with  the  Bond,  and  the  fact  that  he  should 
have  gone  so  far  with  a  Eeformer  of  known  strong  British  sympathies, 
seem  to  warrant  the  attaching  of  some  importance  to  the  suggestion. ^ 
A  similar  suggestion  was  made  to  several  of  the  Reformers  at  the  time 
of  the  judicial  crisis  by  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Transvaal  High  Court, 
when  it  was  hoped  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  the  Uitlanders  with  a 
movement  to  curtail  President  Kruger's  power  and  to  establish  re- 
publicanism on  a  firmer  basis  in  South  Africa.  In  order  to  forestall  an 
obvious  comment,  it  may  be  said  that  discussion  was  in  both  cases 
declined  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  participating  in  politics  in  the 
sense  forbidden  by  President  Kruger's  three  years'  ban. 

The  year  1896  was  a  very  bad  one  for  the  whole  of  South  Africa. 
Besides  the  Eaid  and  the  suspense  and  disorganization  entailed  by  the 
prolonged  trial,  the  terrible  dynamite  explosion  in  Johannesburg,^  the 
still  more  terrible  rebellion  and  massacre  in  Ehodesia,  and  the  crush- 
ing visitation  of  the  great  cattle  scourge,  the  Einderpest,  helped  to 
produce  a  deplorable  state  of  affairs  in  the  Transvaal. 

Then  there  was  another  thing  which  rankled  badly  :  Messrs.  Samp- 
son and  Davies  were  still  in  gaol.'     The  feeling  throughout  Soutli 

1  The  writer  has  since  learned  from  Mr.  Alfred  Beit  that  the  same  proposal 
was  made  to  him  by  Mr.  GraafT  in  January,  IS 06,  immediately  after  the  Raid, 
and  that  it  was  baited  with  the  promise  that  if  he  and  Mr.  Rhodes  would 
agiee  to  support  it,  the  threatened  '  consequences '  of  their  association  with 
the  Raid  would  be  averted.     But  they  preferred  the  *  consequences.' 

2  About  the  middle  of  1895  a  bad  explosion  of  dynamite  occurred  in  Ger- 
many under  circumstances  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Johannesburg  accident. 
An  inquiry  held  by  the  German  authorities  resulted  in  the  finding  that  the 
explosion  must  have  been  due  to  some  fault  in  the  dynamite,  and  an  order 
was  issued  to  destroy  the  remainder.  The  officials  cliarged  with  this  duty 
found,  however,  that  the  owners,  anticipating  some  such  result,  had  removed 
it.  It  was  eventually  traced  as  having  been  shipped  from  Antwerp  to  Port 
Elizabeth,  and  thcuce  consigned  to  the  Transvaal  in  November,  1895.  The 
Johannesburg  explosion  occurred  in  February,  1896.  Ko  competent  or  inde- 
pendent inquiry  was  held,  although  about  100  people  were  killed  and  many 
more  injured. 

^  The  gaoler — Du  Plessis — in  the  fulfilment  of  his  promise  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity to  harass  them  into  submission,  by  depriving  them  of  one  thing  after 
another,  knowing  that  they  would  ask  for  nothing  except  as  a  right.  As  an 
instance    the  spirit- lamp  with  which  they  made  their  tea  was  taken  from 


230  THE  TEANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Africa  was  reflected  in  the  monotonous  announcement  which  appeared 
in  the  Gape  Times  week  by  week  for  thirteen  months  :  *  To-day  Messrs. 
Sampson  and  Davies  complete  the  —  week  of  their  imprisonment  in 
Pretoria  Gaol  for  the  crime  of  not  signing  a  petition.'  It  seemed 
scarcely  credible  that  the  President  should  still  harbour  any  illusions 
about  his  magnanimity  ;  nevertheless,  for  some  weeks  before  the 
celebration  of  the  Queen's  record  reign  it  was  rumoured  that  the  two 
prisoners  were  to  be  released  upon  that  occasion  as  a  mark  of  his 
Honour's  sympathy.  Opinion  had  not  been  unanimous  upon  the 
attitude  of  either  the  President  or  the  prisoners ;  but  an  ugly  incident 
silenced  most  of  the  President's  apologists.  Gold  stealing  and  the 
purchase  of  stolen  gold  were  being  carried  on  on  such  a  scale  and  with 
such  impunity,  that  at  last,  in  desperation,  the  directors  and  officials  of 
one  of  the  big  mining  companies  (the  City  and  Suburban  G.M.  Co.),  at 
the  risk  of  being  shot  by  desperadoes,  took  upon  themselves  the  functions 
of  the  detectives  and  police.  They  caught  '  red-handed '  two  notorious 
characters  and  delivered  them  over,  with  the  gold  in  their  possession, 
to  the  authorities.  The  thieves  actually  boasted  then  that  nothing 
would  happen  to  them,  as  they  had  '  made  it  all  right ;'  and  a  few  days 
later  one  of  them  was  allowed  to  escape  out  of  the  Court-house  build- 
ings, which  stand  in  the  middle  of  a  large  square.  The  other  was 
convicted  and  sentenced  to  six  months'  imprisonment.  He  was  a 
criminal  of  a  bad  and  dangerous  type,  the  head  of  a  gang  known  to  be 
concerned  in  gold  stealing  and  burglary  as  a  profession.  The  penalty 
was  regarded  by  all  parties  as  most  inadequate,  and  the  judge  himself 
commented  adversely  upon  the  drafting  of  the  law,  which  tended  to 
screen  the  prisoner.  Not  one  mitigating  circumstance  was  forthcom- 
ing I  And  yet,  whilst  ignoring  a  fresh  outburst  of  protest  ngainst  the 
detention  of  Messrs.  Sampson  and  Davies,  and  whilst  the  Industrial 
Commission  was  exposing  the  gold  thefts  and  denouncing  the  com- 
plicity of  the  police,  Mr.  Kruger  decided  to  remit  three-fourths  of  the 
sentence  and  to  discharge  the  thief  unconditionally.  Is  it  to  be  won- 
dered that  such  ill-advised  action  called  to  mind  the  prisoners'  boast, 
and  that  it  was  contrasted  prominently  with  the  treatment  of  the  two 
Reformers  ? 

Three  events  of  importance  marked  the  year  1897  in  the  history  of 

them  on  the  pretext  that  no  combustibles  were  allowed  under  the  prison 
regulations,  and  upon  a  remonstrance  being  made  by  Mr.  Conyngliam  Greene 
to  Dr.  Leyds,  the  latter  replied  that  it  was  necessary  on  account  of  the  risk 
of  fire.  For  about  eight  months,  therefore,  water  was  to  be — and  of  course 
was — their  only  drink.  Only  once  during  the  thirteen  months  did  Dn  Plessis 
appear  to  'get  home.'  It  was  when  he  proposed  that  the  two  should  be 
separated  and  sent  to  out-of-the-way  gaols,  Avidely  apart  and  distant  from  all 
friends.  Without  doubt  the  conditions  told  seriously  upon  their  health,  but 
as  both  men  were  endowed  with  exceptional  physique  and  any  amount  of  grit, 
they  were  still  able  to  take  it  smiling. 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  231 

the  Transvaal.  The  first  was  the  High  Court  crisis  in  February ;  the 
second,  the  appointment  of  the  Industrial  Commission  of  Inquiry ;  the 
third,  the  Queen's  Eecord  Beign  celebration. 

The  High  Court  crisis  arose  out  of  the  case  of  Brown  v.  The  State, 
already  referred  to.^  Brown  had  acted  within  his  legal  rights  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  a  proclamation.  That  proclamation  had  been 
illegally  withdrawn,  and  the  Government,  reaUzing  that  they  would 
have  to  stand  the  consequences  of  their  action  in  the  courts  of  the 
country,  introduced  a  law  which  was  immediately  passed  by  the  Volks- 
raad,  absolving  them  from  all  liability,  and  practically  non-suiting  all 
claimants.  Mr.  Kotze  in  his  judgment  declared  this  law  to  be  improper 
and  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution,  and  gave  judgment  in  favour  of 
Brown,  but  left  the  amount  of  damages  to  be  determined  later,  after 
hearing  further  evidence.^ 

The  first  Volksraad  was  then  in  special  session,  and  the  President 
promptly  introduced  a  law  known  as  Law  1  of  1897,  which  empowered 
him  to  exact  assurances  from  the  judges  that  they  would  respect  all 
resolutions  of  the  Volksraad  as  having  the  force  of  law,  and  declare 
themselves  not  entitled  to  test  the  validity  of  a  law  by  its  agreement  or 
conflict  with  the  Constitution ;  and  it  further  empowered  the  President, 
in  the  event  of  his  not  being  satisfied  with  the  character  of  the  replies, 
to  summarily  dismiss  the  judges.  The  judges  protested  in  a  body  that 
they  would  not  submit  to  such  treatment.  The  High  Court  was 
adjourned  and  all  legal  business  was  stopped.  Particularly  emphatic 
was  Mr.  Justice  Gregorowski.  He  stated  that  no  honourable  man 
could  possibly  sit  upon  the  Transvaal  Bench  as  long  as  Law  1  of  1897 
remained  upon  the  Statute  Book.  At  this  juncture  Sir  Henry  de 
Villiers,  Chief  Justice  of  Cape  Colony,  came  to  Pretoria  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  a  compromise  and  averting  a  crisis.  The  compromise  was 
practically  an  armistice.  The  judges  promised  not  to  exercise  the 
testing  right  pending  the  speedy  introduction  of  a  measure  safeguarding 
the  independence  of  the  courts.  Mr.  Kruger,  on  his  side,  promised  to 
refrain  from  enforcing  the  provisions  of  Law  1  of  1897,  and  undertook 
to  introduce  as  speedily  as  possible  the  required  new  law. 

The  position  in  which  the  President  found  himself  was  undoubtedly 
one  of  some  difficulty,  but  he  chose  a  very  bad  way  out  of  it.  High- 
handed arbitrary  methods  cannot  effect  a  permanent  and  satisfactory 
solution  of  a  question  of  that  character,  but  Mr.  Kruger  was  unwilling 
to  go  to  the  root  of  the  evil,  and  to  admit  what  Mr.  Kotz^'s  judgment 

1  It  is  described  as  the  Witfontein  case.     See  p.  80. 

2  When  tlie  case  came  up  again  in  due  course,  a  decision  was  given  by 
Mr.  Gregorowski,  the  new  Chief  Justice,  which  was  regarded  by  the  plaintiffs 
advisers  as  a  reversal  of  the  first  judgment,  and  the  practical  effect  of  which 
was  to  bring  the  case  under  the  operations  of  Law  1  of  1897 — that  is  to  say, 
to  put  the  plaintiff  '  out  of  court. '  Mr.  Brown  has  appealed  to  the  United 
States  Government  for  redress. 


232  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

had  brought  home  with  perhaps  too  sudden  force,  namely,  that  the 
laws  and  system  of  Government  were  m  a  condition  of  complete  chaos. 
The  sequel  can  be  told  in  a  few  words.     In  February,  1898,  Mr.  Kotz^ 
considered  that  ample  time  had  been  allowed  by  him  for  the  fulfilment 
of  President  Kruger's  promise.    Sir  Henry  de  Villiers  thought  it  proper 
to  allow  more  time.     The  point  of  difference  between  Mr.  Kotze  and 
Sir  Henry  de  Villiers  was  the  interpretation  to  be  placed  upon  the 
expression,    'this   session,'   which    had    been    used    in  the    previous 
February,  when  the  President  had  said  tliat  if  he  did  not  introduce  the 
proposed  measures  this  session,  the  judges  might  consider  that  he  had 
failed  to  keep  his  promise,    Mr.  Kotze  contended  that  as  the  Eaad  was 
then  in  session  it  meant  that  session,  and  in  that  case  that  session  and 
another  had  passed,  and  a  third  was  in  progress,  and  there  was  still  no 
sign  of  the  promised  measures.     Sir  Henry  de  Villiers  stated  that  in 
his  opinion  the   reasonable   construction  would  be  that  Mr.  KJruger 
meant  the  following  ordinary  session,  and  that  only  ordinary  sessions 
could  be  considered  (for  in  each  year  there  are  one  special  and  one 
ordinary  session),  so  that  the  President  might  be  entitled  to  claim  the 
whole  of  the  year  1898  within  which  to  fulfil  his  promise,  but  that  this 
would  be  the  extreme  limit  of  forbearance,  after  which  failure  could 
only  be  regarded  as  a  breach  of  faith.     Sir  Henry  de  VUliers,  in  fact, 
defended  Mr.  Kruger.     Mr.  Kotze,  however,  held  to  his  opinion ;  he 
wrote  to  the  President  reminding  him  of  the  undertaking,  charged  him 
with  failure  to  keep  his  promise,  and  withdrew  the  pledge  which  he 
had  given.     The  President  promptly  exercised  his  right  under  Law  1  of 
1897,  and  dismissed  Mr.  Kotze,  who  had  served  the  country  as  judge 
and  chief  justice  for  over  twenty  years.     Whatever  the  merits  of  the 
particular  case  may  be,  it  appeared  to  be  a  shocking  exhibition  of 
arbitrary  power  to  dismiss  without  compensation,  pension,  or  provision 
of  any  sort,  a  man  no  longer  young,  whose  services  had  been  given  for 
nearly  a  quai-ter  of  a  century,  who  in  the  extreme  dilemma  of  the  Eaid 
had  stood  by  the  President,  and  who,  from  some  points  of  view,  must 
be  admitted  to  have  served  him  '  not  wisely  but  too  well.' 

Mr.  Kotze  was  not  at  that  time  popular  among  the  Uitlanders  on 
account  of  his  action  in  the  matter  of  the  Reformers,  and  especially 
because  he  had  acted  on  behalf  of  the  Government  in  securing  the 
services  of  Mr.  Gregorowski  for  the  Reform  trial ;  but  the  circum- 
stances of  his  dismissal  and  the  fact  that  he  was  known  to  be  dependent 
upon  his  salary  as  judge,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  courageous 
stand  which  he  had  made  against  the  President's  arbitrary  will,  en- 
listed public  sympathy  on  his  behalf,  and  a  purse  amounting  in  all  to 
about  £6,000  was  presented  to  him  as  a  mark  of  appreciation  for  his 
past  services.  But  then  followed  the  '  most  unkindest  cut  of  all.'  Mr. 
Gregorowski,  who  had  resigned  a  judgeship  in  order  to  fill  the  post  of 
Stato   Attorney  when   T)r.   Coster,   in    consequence   of    an  insulting 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  233 

reference  of  the  President's  to  his  countrymen,  relinquished  it — Mr. 
Gregorowski,  who  had  been  foremost  to  declare  that  no  honourable 
man  could  possibly  accept  the  position  of  judge  while  Law  1  of  1897 
stood  on  the  Statute  Book,  became  Chief  Justice  vice  Mr.  Kotze  dis- 
missed. And  by  way  of  finally  disposing  of  the  subject,  the  President, 
when  questioned  in  tlie  Eaad  as  to  the  explanation  of  his  apologist, 
denied  that  he  had  ever  made  any  promise  of  any  sort  or  description  to 
Sir  Henry  de  Villiers  or  anybody  else  1 

Mr.  Justice  Ameshof,  who  with  Mr,  Kotze  had  made  a  stand  against 
the  President  in  this  matter,  was  also  obliged  to  relinquish  his  judge- 
ship. Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  at  one  swoop  Mr.  Kruger  disposed  of 
three  reputable  intermediaries  whom  he  had  used  to  great  advantage 
at  one  time  or  another.  '  Something  for  nothing,'  for  Mr.  Kruger  ! 
Whether  Mr.  Kotze  acted  in  haste,  or  whether  Sir  Henry  de  Villiers' 
plea  for  more  time  was  justified,  are  questions  which  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  discuss,  not  alone  because  Mr.  Kruger  denied  ever  having 
made  the  proniise  out  of  which  the  disagreement  arose,  but  because 
even  up  to  the  present  time  no  measure  safeguarding  the  High  Court 
has  been  introduced  or  foreshadowed  in  the  Legislature.  .  And  Law  1 
of  1897,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Gregorowksi,  made  it  impossible  for 
any  honourable  man  to  sit  upon  the  Bench,  is  still  upon  the  Statute 
Book,  and  Mr.  Gregorowski  sits  as  Chief  Justice  subject  to  its  pro- 
visions. 

No  one  disputes  that  the  position  of  the  High  Court  as  determined 
by  Law  1  of  1897  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  one,  but  the  apologists  for 
President  Kruger  frequently  say  that  there  has  been  no  actual  case  of 
hardship,  and  that  the  Uitlanders  are  crying  out  before  they  are  hurt. 
They  maintain  that  it  was  a  measure  passed  under  great  provocation 
for  a  particular  purpose,  and  that  the  power  granted  under  it,  although 
very  undesirable  in  principle,  has  never  been  used.  This  is  incorrect ; 
the  power  has  been  used,  and  injustice  has  been  suffered.  Two  cases 
of  actual  hardship  are  those  of  Brown  v.  Government,  the  case  out  of 
which  the  whole  matter  arose,  and  the  case  of  the  Pretoria  Waterworks 
Company.  But  there  are  other  cases  too  which  have  never  been 
brought  into  court,  having  been  either  compromised  or  abandoned 
because  of  the  hopelessness  of  the  position,  for  it  is  obvious  that  there 
would  be  great  reluctance  on  the  part  of  business  men  to  make  a  fight 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  they  suffered  under  a  disability 
when  the  result  of  such  a  fight  would  inevitably  be  to  antagonize  the 
only  tribunal  to  which  they  could  appeal. 

The  case  of  the  Pretoria  Waterworks  Company  is  rather  a  bad  one. 
The  Government  in  1889  gave  a  contract  for  the  water  supply  of 
Pretoria.  It  was  a  permission,  but  not  an  exclusive  right,  to  supply 
the  town  from  springs  on  Government  ground.  The  President,  finding 
that   the  contractor  was  not  in  a  position    to  undertake  the  work, 


234  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

requested  certain  business  houses  to  form  a  company  to  acquire  this 
right  and  to  supply  the  town  with  water.  After  inquiry  into  the  local 
conditions  and  the  probable  costs,  these  people  represented  that,  unless 
they  received  the  exclusive  right,  they  would  be  unable  to  undertake 
the  work,  as  the  cost  of  importing  pipes  and  machinery  transported 
from  Natal  by  bullock-waggon,  and  the  then  expensive  conditions  of 
working,  would  make  the  work  so  costly  that  at  a  later  period,  after 
the  introduction  of  railways,  it  would  be  possible  for  competitors,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  projected  Municipality  of  Pretoria,  to  establish  a 
system  of  water-supply  at  probably  half  the  cost  of  the  first  one,  and 
thus  compete  to  their  disadvantage.  For  these  reasons  the  contractor 
and  his  friends  declined  to  proceed  with  the  formation  of  the  Company. 
The  President,  however,  was  very  desirous  of  having  a  good  water- 
supply,  and  after  some  months  of  negotiations  the  original  contract 
was  supplemented  by  a  grant  from  the  Executive  Council,  who  then 
held  plenary  powers  from  the  Volksraad,  giving  the  proposed  company 
the  exclusive  right.  Immediately  after  the  receipt  of  this  grant  the 
Company  was  formed,  the  capital  subscribed,  and  the  machinery  and 
other  material  purchased.  In  1898,  after  nine  years  of  work,  during 
which  shareholders  had  received  dividends  averaging  2|  per  cent,  per 
annum,  some  differences  occurred  between  the  Company  and  the  con- 
sumers, and  the  latter  combined  and  subscribed  the  necessary  funds 
to  take  action  in  the  High  Court,  the  object  being  to  challenge  the 
exclusive  right,  and  to  enable  the  town  through  its  Municipality  to 
provide  its  own  supply.  At  the  same  time  the  Government,  at  the 
instance  of  the  townspeople,  opened  negotiations  with  the  Company 
with  a  view  to  expropriation  in  accordance  with  the  terms  stipulated 
in  the  original  contract.  \Yhile  matters  were  in  this  position,  how- 
ever, certain  members  of  the  Volksraad  prominently  concerned  in  the 
action  against  the  Company  mtroduced  a  measure  in  the  Volksraad 
cancelling  the  second  or  exclusive  grant  made  by  the  Government 
nine  years  before,  and  recommending  that  the  Government  should 
either  buy  out  the  Waterworks  Company  upon  suitable  terms,  or 
should  give  the  necessary  facihties  to  the  Town  Council  to  introduce 
another  system  of  supply.  The  application  of  the  Company  to  be 
allowed  to  state  its  case  was  ignored,  and  after  a  short  discussion  the 
resolution  was  passed,  and  the  measure  became  law.  By  the  action  of 
the  Volksraad  the  Company  was  deprived  of  that  principal  asset  upon 
the  security  of  which  the  capital  had  been  subscribed,  and  the  Govern- 
ment were  rescued  from  an  awkward  position.  The  Government  took 
no  steps  to  defend  their  action  in  granting  the  right  or  to  protest 
against  the  action  of  the  Volksraad,  and  became,  therefore,  parties  to 
an  act  of  piracy.  The  Company  were  thus  placed  entirely  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Government,  for  under  the  provisions  of  Law  1  of  1897 
the  Volksraad  resolution  put  them  out  of  court,  both  as  to  upholding 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  235 

their  title  and  claiming  damages.  All  doubts  as  to  the  Governmeut's 
complicity  in  this  action  were  removed  when  upon  negotiations  being 
opened  for  the  expropriation  of  the  Company  the  Government  refused 
to  follow  the  procedure  prescribed  in  the  contract  on  the  ground  that, 
as  the  Company  had  now  lost  the  exclusive  right,  they  must  accept  a  less 
sum  in  compensation,  otherwise  the  Government  would  authorize  the 
rival  Municipal  scheme.  Under  these  circumstances  the  shareholders, 
having  no  other  power  to  appeal  to,  adopted  the  common- sense  course 
of  taking  what  they  could  get.  The  result  can  only  be  expressed  in 
figures.  The  shares,  which  had  been  purchased  at  over  40s.  at  the 
time  of  the  Volksraad's  action,  were  worth  less  than  28s;  in  liquidation. 
The  inquiry  into  the  Eaid  by  the  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  early  in  1897  was  productive  of  a  result  which  is  not  always 
traced  to  its  real  cause.  The  greatest  dissatisfaction  was  expressed  in 
the  Transvaal  and  among  all  the  Boers  in  South  Africa  with  one  feature 
of  the  Westminster  inquiry,  viz.,  the  investigation  of  the  causes  which 
made  the  Raid  possible.  Mr.  Kruger  and  his  friends  had  enjoyed 
such  a  run  of  luck  and  so  much  indulgence,  and  had  been  so  successful 
in  presenting  their  side  of  the  case  only,  that  it  seemed  to  them 
improper  that  anyone  should  wish  to  inquire  into  all  the  circumstances. 
It  would  even  appear  from  what  followed  that  the  President  had  con- 
vinced himself  that  there  were  no  grievances,  that  he  was  an  entirely 
innocent  party  deeply  injured  by  the  Reformers  and  the  British 
Government,  and  that  the  Westminster  inquiry  had  been  authorized 
and  conducted  for  the  sole  purpose  of  exposing  him  and  justifying  the 
Reform  movement. 

As  the  months  dragged  on  and  no  improvement  in  the  condition  of 
the  Uitlanders  took  place,  as,  indeed,  the  complaints  grew  louder  and 
the  state  of  affairs  grew  worse,  the  President  again  began  to  hear  the 
voices  calling  for  reform.  Timid  whispers  they  were,  perhaps,  and  far 
between,  for  the  great  bulk  of  the  Uitlanders  were  in  a  morose  and 
sullen  mood.  Having  tried  and  failed  on  stronger  lines,  they  were 
incapable  as  yet  of  returning  with  any  heart  to  the  old  fruitless  and 
already  rejected  constitutional  methods.  The  suggestions  for  reform, 
consequently,  came  principally  from  those  who  were  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  Boer  party,  and  believed  themselves  to  carry  some  weight. 
They  have  by  this  time  learned  that  nobody  carries  weight  with 
President  Kruger  unless  he  has  power  to  back  his  suggestions.  Many 
years  before  the  late  Mr.  W.  Y.  Campbell,  as  spokesman  of  a  deputa- 
tion from  Johannesburg,  addressing  President  Kruger,  stated  in  the 
course  of  his  remarks  that  the  people  of  Johannesburg  *  protested ' 
against  a  certain  measure.  The  President  jumped  up  in  one  of  his 
characteristic  moods  and  said  :  '  Protest  I  Protest  I  1  what  is  the  good 
of  protesting  ?  You  have  not  got  the  guns  ;  I  have  1'  And  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, in   reporting  this  in  Johannesburg,  remarked :    '  That  man  ia 


236  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

sensible  ;  he  knows  the  position.  I  claim  to  be  sensible  also,  and  I 
know  he  is  right :  you  can  take  my  name  ofT  any  other  deputations, 
for  we'll  get  nothing  by  asking.' 

It  is  stated,  and  the  statement  comes  from  one  who  claims  to  have 
been  the  father  of  the  suggestion,  that  the  President  was  induced  to 
appoint  a  commission  of  inquiry  by  the  argument  that  if,  as  he 
beheved,  the  wretched  state  of  affairs  in  Johannesburg  was  due,  not  to 
the  action  of  the  Government,  but  to  the  greed,  machinations,  and 
mismanagement  of  the  capitalists,  nothing  could  suit  the  latter  worse 
than  to  be  taken  at  their  word,  and  to  have  a  commission  appointed  to 
take  evidence  on  oath  and  to  publicly  inquire  into  the  state  of  affairs ; 
in  fact,  to  copy  the  Westminster  inquiry.  It  is  conceivable  that  the 
resolute  refusal  to  investigate  matters,  or  to  listen  to  complaints  or 
explanations  which  the  President  had  throughout  maintained,  may 
have  been  the  means  of  preserving  a  blissful  faith  in  the  strength  of 
his  own  case  and  the  rottenness  of  the  Uitlanders' ;  at  any  rate,  it 
seems  to  be  an  undoubted  fact  that  the  Industrial  Commission  of 
Inquiry,  which  was  appointed  by  the  Executive  at  the  request  of  the 
President,  was  appointed  in  the  confident  belief  that  it  would  shift  the 
burden  of  responsibility  from  his  shoulders  to  those  of  the  capitalists. 
This  construction  of  his  motives  may  appear  to  be  severe  and  perhaps 
even  unfair,  but  it  is  entirely  borne  out  by  the  manner  in  which  he 
dealt  with  the  report  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  fighting  against  its 
acceptance,  ignoring  the  recommendations  of  relief,  and  even  imposing 
fresh  burdens.  There  is,  nevertheless,  one  thing  to  be  deduced  which 
is  in  a  manner  to  Mr.  Rruger's  credit,  and  that  is  that  he  really  must 
have  believed  that  the  case  would — from  his  point  of  view — bear 
inquiring  into. 

The  members  of  the  Commission  with  power  to  vote  were  Messrs. 
Schalk  W.  Burger,  Member  of  the  Executive  Council  (Chairman) ; 
J.  S.  Smit,  Government  Railway  Commissioner;  Christiaan  Joubert, 
Minister  of  Mines ;  Schmitz-Dumont,  Acting  State  Mining  Engineer ; 
and  J.  F.  de  Beer,  first  special  Judicial  Commissioner,  Johannesburg. 
Mr.  Thos.  Hugo,  the  General  Manager  of  the  National  Bank,  was 
appointed  financial  adviser,  and  certain  advisory  members  were  arbi- 
trarily selected  by  the  Government.  The  complete  exclusion  of  all 
those  who  had  had  any  direct  or  indirect  association  with  the  late 
Reform  movement  or  with  those  in  any  way  connected  with  it, 
strengthened  the  conviction  that  the  Government  designed  the  Com- 
mission to  be  a  whitewashing  one ;  but  whatever  the  design  may  have 
been,  it  would  be  doing  an  injustice  both  to  the  Government  officials 
and  to  the  advisory  members  to  have  it  supposed  that  they  were  parties 
to  such  an  idea.  They  were  not ;  they  did  their  work  admirably,  and 
no  inquiry  could  have  been  conducted  in  a  better  spirit.  This,  how- 
ever, was  not  foreseen,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  the 


THKEE  YEARS'  GRACE  237 

TJitlanders  were  induced  to  view  the  thing  seriously  and  to  reahze 
that,  no  matter  how  it  had  occurred,  this  was  a  supreme  opportunity 
for  proving  to  the  world  the  soundness  of  their  case.  The  report  and 
proceedings  are  published  by  the  Witwatersrand  Chamber  of  Mines  in 
a  volume  containing  over  700  pages  of  printed  matter  and  a  number 
of  diagrams.  The  whole  constitutes  a  damning  indictment  of  the 
Government,  as  the  following  extracts  from  the  report  of  the  Commis- 
sion testify : 

Your  Commission  are  pleased  to  state  that  at  present  there  exist  all  the 
indications  of  an  honest  administration,  and  the  State,  as  well  as  the  Mining 
Industry,  must  be  congratulated  upon  the  fact  that  most  of  the  mines  are 
controlled  and  directed  by  financial  and  practical  men  who  devote  their  time, 
energy,  and  knowledge  to  the  mining  industry,  and  who  have  not  only  intro- 
duced the  most  up-to-date  machinery  and  mining  appliances,  but  also  the 
gi-eatest  perfection  of  method  and  process  known  to  science.  But  for  these  a 
good  many  of  the  mines  now  producing  gold  would  not  have  reached  that 
stage.  .  .  . 

To  avoid  such  a  calamity  (viz.,  the  closing  down  of  the  mines)  your  Com- 
mission are  of  opinion  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  co-operate 
with  the  mining  industry,  and  to  devise  means  in  order  to  make  it  possible 
for  lower-grade  mines  to  work  at  a  profit,  and  generally  to  lighten  the  burdens 
of  the  mining  industry.  This  and  the  development  and  equipment  of  the 
new  mines  are  a  few  examples  among  others  where  it  is  desirable  that  the 
Government  shall  take  an  active  part,  especially  when  the  fact  is  taken  into 
consideration  that  up  till  now  the  mining  industry  must  be  held  as  the 
financial  basis,  support,  and  mainstay  of  the  State. 

The  question,  therefore,  becomes  one  of  national  economy,  and  it  is  incum- 
bent upon  the  Government,  considering  the  rapid  growth  and  progress  of  the 
country,  to  so  alter  its  fiscal  laws  and  systems  of  administration  as  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  its  principal  industry.  .  .  . 

Your  Commission  entirely  disapprove  of  concessions,  through  which  the 
industrial  prosperity  of  the  country  is  hampered.  Such  might  have  been 
expedient  in  the  past,  but  the  country  has  now  arrived  at  a  state  of  develop- 
ment that  Avill  only  admit  of  free  competition  according  to  Republican  prin- 
ciples. This  applies  more  especially  to  the  gold  industry,  which  has  to  face 
its  own  economical  problems  without  being  further  burdened  with  concessions 
that  are  irksome  and  injurious  to  the  industry,  and  will  always  remain  a 
source  of  irritation  and  dissatisfaction. 

As  to  v/hite  labour : 

Your  Commission  are  of  opinion  that  wages  are  not  excessive,  regard  being 
had  to  the  high  cost  of  living  at  the  mines.  In  fact,  they  are  only  sufficient 
to  satisfy  daily  wants,  and,  consequently,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  white 
labourers  will  establish  their  permanent  abode  in  this  Republic  unless  con- 
ditions are  made  by  which  their  position  will  be  ameliorated.  .  .  . 

Your  Conmiission  are  of  opiuion  that  as  long  as  the  cost  of  living  cannot 
be  considerably  reduced,  it  will  be  almost  impossible  to  reduce  the  wages  of 
w^iite  labourers,  and  they  would  strongly  recommend  that,  as  far  as  possible, 
necessaries  of  life  should  be  imported  free  of  duty  and  conveyed  to  the  mines 
as  cheaply  as  possible. 

As  to  the  sale  of  liquor : 

It  hiis  been  proved  to  your  Conunission  that  the  Liquor  Law  is  not  carried 
out  properly,  and  that  the  mining  industry  has  real  grievances  in  connection 


238  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

therewith,  owing  to  the  illicit  sale  of  strong  drink  to  the  natives  at  the  mines, 
and  they  wish  especially  and  strongly  to  insist  that  the  stipulations  of 
Article  16  of  the  law  shall  be  strictly  enforced.  The  evidence  given  on  this 
point  proves  that  a  miserable  state  of  affairs  exists,  and  a  n)uch  stronger 
application  of  the  law  is  required. 

Following  this  there  is  a  long  criticism  with  recommendations  in 
detail. 
As  to  import  duties : 

With  reference  to  this  matter,  your  Commission  can  only  recommend  that, 
if  possible,  foodstuffs  ought  to  be  entirely  free  from  taxation,  as  at  the  present 
moment  it  is  impossible  to  supply  the  population  of  the  Republic  from  the 
products  of  local  agriculture,  and  consequently  importation  is  absolutely 
necessary. 

A?  to  explosives : 

Before  entering  on  this  subject,  we  wish  to  put  on  record  our  disappoint- 
ment with  the  evidence  tendered  on  behalf  of  the  South  African  Explosives 
Company,  Ltd.  We  expected,  and  we  think  not  unreasonably,  that  they 
would  be  able  to  give  reliable  information  for  our  guidance  respecting  the 
cost  of  importation,  as  well  as  of  local  manufacture,  of  the  principal  ex- 
plosives used  for  mining  purposes  ;  but  though  persistently  questioned  on 
these  points,  few  facts  were  elicited,  and  we  regret  to  say  that  they  entirely 
failed  to  satisfy  us  in  this  important  respect.  .  .   . 

That  the  principal  explosives  used  here  can  be  purchased  in  Europe,  and 
delivered  liere  at  a  price  far  below  the  present  cost  to  the  mines,  has  been 
proved  to  us  by  the  evidence  of  many  witnesses  competent  to  speak  on  the 
subject,  and  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  excess  charge  of  40s.  to  45s.  per 
case  does  not  benefit  tlie  State,  but  serves  to  enrich  individuals  for  the  most 

Eart  resident  in  Europe,  the  injustice  of  suc]i  a  tax  on  the  staple  industry 
ecomes  more  apparent  and  demands  immediate  removal.  , 

After  showing  that  the  dynamite  monopolists  make  a  profit  of 
47s.  6d.  per  case  on  No.  1  dynamite,  and  55s.  on  blasting  gelatine, 
over  and  above  the  price  at  which  the  mines  could  buy  explosives  if 
there  were  no  monopoly  or  protection,  the  report  goes  on : 

The  Mining  Industry  has  thus  to  bear  a  burden  which  does  not  enrich  the 
State  or  bring  any  benefit  in  return,  and  this  fact  must  always  prove  a  source 
of  irritation  and  annoyance  to  those  who,  while  willing  to  contribute  to  just 
taxation  for  the  general  good,  cannot  acquiesce  in  an  impost  of  the  nature 
complained  of.  .   .  . 

Your  Commission  inspected  the  factory  at  Modderfontein,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  construction  of  the  works  and  general  equipment  are  in 
many  respects  admirable,  and  it  appears  to  us  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  so 
much  money  should  have  been  invested  in  an  undertaking  for  the  manu- 
facture of  any  article  whereof  the  ingredients  have  to  be  imported  at  a  great 
cost,  four  tons  of  raw  material  being  required  to  produce  one  ton  of  the 
manufactured  article. 

It  has  been  proved  to  our  satisfaction  that  none  of  the  raw  material  used  is 
(bund  in  this  country,  or  only  in  such  small  quantities  as  to  make  it  practi- 
cally valueless  for  the  purpose  required.  .  .  .  All  these  drawbacks,  which 
make  it  almost  impossible  to  establish  a  lond-fide  industry,  fall  on  the  mines 
and  render  their  task,   especially  that  of  the  low-grade  mines,   extremely 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  239 

difficult  and  discouraging.  Another  point  that  has  been  brought  to  the 
notice  of  your  Commission  is  the  prejudicial  effect  exercised  by  this  monopoly 
in  practically  excluding  from  the  country  all  new  inventions  in  connection 
with  explosives,  and,  in  view  of  the  numerous  dynamite  accidents  that  have 
taken  place  from  time  to  time,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  is  not  possible  to 
make  satisfactory  trials  of  other  and  less  dangerous  explosives  for  the 
working  of  the  mines.  These  questions  have  received  the  careful  considera- 
tion of  your  Commission,  who  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  factory 
has  not  attained  the  object  for  which  it  was  established,  and  that  there  is  no 
reasonable  prospect  of  it  doing  so.  Further,  that  there  are  good  grounds  for 
believing  that  the  contractors  have  failed  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of 
their  contract. 

For  the  aforesaid  reasons,  and  in  view  of  the  opinion  expressed  by  the 
Volksraad  Dynamite  Commission,  that  the  legal  position  of  the  Government 
against  the  contractors  is  undoubtedly  strong,  your  Commission  desire  to 
recommend  that  the  case  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  legal  advisers  of  the 
State,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  whether  the  contract  cannot  be  cancelled. 

Meanwhile  your  Commission  recommend  that  the  Government  avail  itself 
forthwith  of  its  right,  under  Article  15  of  the  Regulations,  to  take  away  the 
agency  of  trading  in  gunpowder,  dynamite,  cartridges,  and  other  explosives 
from  the  above-mentioned  persons,  and  at  once  take  into  its  own  hands  the 
importation  of  dynamite  and  other  explosives  for  the  benefit  of  the  raining 
industry  subject  to  a  duty  of  not  more  than  20s.  per  case,  or  such  other  less 
sum  as  may  be  determined  from  time  to  time. 

This  protective  duty,  while  considerably  increasing  the  revenue  of  the  State, 
will  at  the  same  time  offer  ample  protection  to  any  industry  of  this  description 
in  the  Republic.  In  the  event  of  cancellation  being  advised  to  be  possible, 
free  trade  in  explosives  to  be  at  once  established,  subject  to  a  duty  of  20s.  per 
case,  or  such  other  less  duty  as  may  be  determined  upon  from  time  to  time, 
and  manufacturing  of  other  explosives  in  the  Republic  to  be  allowed,  and  also 
to  be  protected  by  the  same  import  duty.  .  .  . 

Your  Commission  desire  further  to  observe  that  it  is  not  clear  to  them, 
judging  from  the  published  accounts  of  the  South  African  Explosives 
Company  for  1895  and  1896,  that  the  Government  receives  the  proportion 
of  surplus  profit  secured  to  it  under  the  contract,  viz.,  20  per  cent.,  and  would 
strongly  recommend,  in  accordance  with  Article  6  of  the  contract,  an  imme- 
diate investigation  of  the  Company's  accounts  by  qualified  accountants,  in 
conjunction  with  the  financial  adviser  of  the  Commission,  in  order  to  find  out 
what  amount  is  still  due  to  the  Government  under  this  head. 

As  to  railways : 

Your  Commission  have  followed  with  great  attention  and  interest  the 
evidence  and  statistics  submitted  on  this  point.  From  those  it  appears  that 
not  only  are  the  tariffs  charged  by  the  Netherlands  Railway  Company  such 
that  by  the  reduction  of  the  same  the  industry  would  be  considerably 
benefited,  but  that  such  a  reduction  would  necessitate  that  the  neighbouring 
States  and  Colonies  would  also  have  to  reduce  their  tariffs  considerably. 

Your  Commission  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  evidence  submitted  to  them,  and  taking  the  gross  revenue  of  traffic 
of  goods  at  about  £2,000,000  (as  in  1896),  it  would  be  desirable  to  recommend 
so  to  regulate  the  tariff'  that  the  gross  revenue  for  1896  would  have  been 
reduced  by  £500,000,  equivalent  to  an  average  reduction  of  25  per  cent. 
Further,  your  Commission  deem  it  desirable  that  the  Government  shall  make 
such  arrangement  as  will  secure  to  them  in  the  future  a  voice  in  the  fixing  of 
the  tariffs  of  the  N.Z.A.S.M.,  and  express  their  confidence  that  as  soon  as 


240  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

prosperous  times  will  warrant  such  a  course  a  further  reduction  in  tariii's  will 
be  elfected.  Your  Commission  wish  to  recommend  that  the  reduction  will  be 
chiefly  applied  to  traffic  of  coal,  timber,  mining  machinery,  and  foodstuffs, 
according  to  a  scale  to  be  agreed  upon  between  the  Government  and  the 
N.Z.A.S.M.  Your  Commission  are  of  opinion  that  in  this  manner  the 
industry  will  be  met  in  a  very  fair  way.  Your  Commission  wish  to  express 
the  opinion  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  reduction  in  all  local 
tariffs  will  be  brought  about  as  speedily  as  possible,  while  they  express  the 
hope  that  where  the  co-operation  of  the  neighbouring  States  and  Colonies  is 
required,  negotiations  will  be  initiated  and  carried  out  so  speedily  that  the 
reductions  to  be  so  initiated  will  come  into  force  not  later  than  1st  January 
next.  Several  witnesses  and  some  of  the  Commission  have  urged  the  expro- 
priation of  the  N.Z.A.S.M.  by  the  Government.  Your  Commission,  however, 
for  several  reasons  known  to  them,  and  after  same  have  been  communicated 
to  those  members  of  the  Commission  who  wished  to  urge  the  expropriation  of 
the  N.Z.A.S.M.,  do  not  at  the  present  moment  desire  to  urge  expropriation 
provided  by  the  other  means  terms  can  be  secured  from  the  Company  so  as  to 
obtain  the  reduction  at  present  urgently  required  on  the  basis  as  above  set 
forth.  Your  Commission  have  been  informed  that  the  Company  have  pro- 
posed to  adopt  the  dividends  of  the  three  years,  1895,  1896,  and  1897  as  a 
basis  for  the  expropination  price,  and  your  Commission  can  agree  to  such  pro- 
posal. The  expropriation  price  being  thus  fixed,  the  Company  will  have  all 
the  more  reason  to  co-operate  towards  the  lowering  of  the  tariffs.  Further,  it 
appears  from  the  evidence  of  the  managing  director  of  the  N.Z.A.S.M.,  that 
in  consideration  of  the  reduction  of  tariffs,  he  wished  to  have  secured  to  the 
Company  a  certain  period  of  existence.  Your  Commission  cannot  recommend 
this  course,  because  they  do  not  deem  the  same  to  be  in  the  interests  of  the 
State,  and  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  public. 

As  to  gold  thefts : 

According  to  the  evidence  submitted  to  your  Commission,  gold  thefts  are 
on  the  increase,  and  although  the  Volksraad  has  given  the  matter  their 
favourable  consideration,  and  have,  at  the  instance  of  the  Mining  Industry, 
so  amended  the  Gold  Law  as  to  provide  for  the  punishment  of  the  sale  and 
being  in  possession  of  raw  gold,  still,  it  has  been  stated  to  your  Commission 
in  evidence  that  the  gold  thefts  amount  to  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  output, 
equivalent  to  an  amount  of  £750,000  per  annum.  It  follows  that  the 
administration  of  the  law  must  be  faulty,  because  there  are  only  very  few 
instances  where  the  crime  has  been  detected  and  punished.  If  those  figures 
are  not  exaggerated,  and  your  Commission  have  no  reason  to  suppose  so,  then 
this  matter  deserves  the  serious  consideration  of  the  Government.  The  sup- 
pression of  this  crime  can  be  considered  as  a  real  saving  to  the  industry,  and 
this  amount  of  three-quarters  of  a  million  would,  especially  in  times  of 
depression,  exercise  a  large  influence  on  the  yield  and  financial  position  of  the 
mines.  The  industry  ask  that  the  penal  clauses  regarding  this  matter  shall 
be  eliminated  from  the  Gold  Law,  and  that  a  separate  law  be  passed,  more  or 
less  on  the  basis  of  the  I.D.B.  Law  of  Kimberley,  Cape  Colony,  and  that 
measures  shall  be  taken  by  which  the  injured  parties  shall  be  enabled  to 
exercise  control,  and  have  supervision  over  any  dej)artment  to  be  established 
for  the  detection  and  suppression  of  thefts  of  new  gold.  Your  Commission 
are  of  opinion  that  the  Government  could  grant  this  request  without  injuring 
their  dignity,  on  the  basis  hereinafter  mentioned.  On  the  contrary,  it  would 
remove  the  blame  from  the  present  administration,  viz.,  that  these  thefts  can 
be  practically  carried  on  with  impunity. 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  241 

As  to  the  Local  Board : 

The  evidence  which  has  heen  laid  before  your  Commission  has  contained 
suggestions  to  establish  a  Board  on  which  Government  nominees  and  repre- 
sentatives of  tlie  mining  industry  and  of  the  commercial  community  of  the 
Witwatersrand  should  sit,  so  that  the  Government  representatives  should 
have  the  benefit  of  the  experience  of  men  whose  daily  occupation  it  is  to  look 
closely  into  all  the  afiairs  appertaining  to  the  mines,  etc.  Your  Commission 
is  of  opinion  that  it  is  advisable  that  these  suggestions  should  be  acted  upon. 
The  scope  of  this  Board  should  consist  of  the  supervision  of  the  administration 
of  the  following  laws,  viz.  : 

The  Liquor  Law  as  far  as  it  concerns  the  proclaimed  goldfields,  the  Pass 
Law,  and  the  Law  relating  to  Gold  Thefts  ;  and  the  Board  will  further  have 
an  advisory  voice  in  the  supply  of  natives  to  the  mines,  Avhich  your  Com- 
mission has  recommended  your  Government  to  take  into  its  own  hands.  The 
area  under  the  surveillance  of  the  Board  should  include  the  Heidelberg, 
Witwatersrand,  and  Klerksdorp  districts,  and  other  goldfields  as  may  be 
found  desirable  hereafter.  Your  Commission  suggests  that  the  Board  consists 
of  tlie  following  :  Five  members  to  be  appointed  by  the  Government,  and  four 
delegates  to  be  appointed  by  the  following  bodies,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Government,  viz.,  one  delegate  of  the  Chamber  of  Mines,  one  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Mines  (or  in  case  of  an  amalgamation,  two  representatives  of  the  new 
Chamber),  a  nominee  of  the  Mine  Managers'  Association,  and  a  nominee  of 
the  commercial  community  of  Johannesburg.  Your  Commission  would  advise 
that  a  separate  detective  force  be  placed  under  the  department,  whose  duty  it 
should  be  to  detect  any  infringements  of  the  above-mentioned  laws,  and  to 
bring  the  offenders  to  justice  in  the  ordinary  course  of  law.  It  should  also  be 
in  the  sphere  of  the  Board's  work  to  report  to  the  proper  authorities  any 
laxity  on  the  part  of  the  officials  who  have  to  a'dminister  the  above-mentioned 
laws.  The  Board  is  to  report  to  the  Executive  Council  upon  the  working  of 
the  laws  referred  to,  and  to  suggest  alterations.  It  must  be  well  understood 
that  the  power  of  this  Board  must  in  no  way  clash  with  the  sphere  of  the 
Minister  of  the  Mines  department  and  the  Licensing  Board,  but  co-operate 
with  the  same.  We  should  adduce  as  a  reason  the  more  for  the  creation  of 
such  a  Board  that  Government  could  depute  to  them  the  right  to  receive 
depiitations,  hear  their  arguments,  and  report  to  tlie  Government  on  the 
subject,  whereby  a  great  saving  of  time  would  be  tlie  result.  We  would 
recommend  that  the  Commission  be  appointed  at  once,  and  that  they  shall 
frame  their  proposals  for  regidations  and  submit  them  at  once  to  the 
Government. 

The  establishment  of  a  local  mining  board  has  been  strongly  urged  by 
wituesses.  From  an  industrial  and  financial  point  of  view  tliis  country  must 
be  considered  as  still  in  its  infancy,  and,  without  loss  of  dignity  or  prestige, 
the  Government  may  accede  to  the  above  request.  Experience  in  these 
matters  can  only  be  attained  after  the  lapse  of  long  years,  and  by  coming  in 
contact  with  experts  from  other  countries  the  State  will  reap  the  benefit  of  the 
knowledge  obtained  in  their  country,  wliere  these  problems  have  for  decades 
exercised  the  minds  of  their  leading  citizens. 

In  conclusion,  your  Commission  fervently  hope  that  they  have  truly  and 
faithfully  interpreted  the  object  of  the  inquiry,  and  that  their  suggestions 
and  recommendations,  if  acted  upon,  will  confer  a  lasting  benefit  on  the 
country  and  people. 

The  evidence,  as  has  been  stated,  was  aU  given  on  oath,  and  some 
very  interesting  details  came  out.     In  oae  case,  Dr.  Leyds'  system  of 

16 


242  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

misrepresentation  was  exposed.  "Whilst  the  Commission  was  actually 
taking  evidence,  the  then  State  Secretary  in  an  interview  with  the 
Paris  Temps  strongly  supported  the  dynamite  monopoly,  and  stated 
that  the  price  charged,  namely,  90s.  per  case,  was  the  same  at  which 
the  Chamber  of  Mines  had  offered  to  enter  into  a  sixteen  years'  con- 
tract with  Nobel's  factory.  A  witness  questioned  on  this  point  ex- 
plained that  this  was  quite  true  as  regards  price,  but  that  Dr.  Leyds 
had  suppressed  the  essential  fact  that  whereas  out  of  the  90s.  paid  to 
the  monopolists,  the  Government  only  received  6s.  by  way  of  duty, 
they  would,  out  of  the  90s.  which  it  was  proposed  to  pay  for  Nobel's 
dynamite,  receive  no  less  than  38s.  per  case  as  duty,  and  that,  if  the 
contract  proposed  by  the  Chamber  had  been  made,  the  Government 
would  have  profited  during  the  previous  four  years  to  the  extent  of 
i£l,200,000  instead  of  ^£150,000.  Upon  another  occasion,  light  was 
thrown  on  dark  places  in  a  rather  disconcerting  fashion.  Mr.  Chris- 
tiaan  Joubert,  Minister  of  Mines,  took  one  of  the  witnesses  in  hand 
with  the  object  of  showing  that  the  people  of  Johannesburg  had  only 
themselves  to  thank  for  the  loss  of  confidence  in  this  business.  The 
following  questions  and  answers  are  from  the  official  report : 

Should  not  the  Chamber  of  Mines  co-operate  with  the  Department  of  Mines 
to  get  a  law  protecting  European  shareholders  from  being  defrauded  by 
swindlers  ? — I  don't  know  if  such  a  law  could  be  framed  without  interfering 
with  what  in  other  countries  is  considered  to  be  personal  liberty.  You  have 
to  come  to  the  point  whether  the  man  intended  to  swindle,  and  that  can  only 
be  settled  by  the  Court,  as  a  matter  of  personal  judgment.  If  a  good  law 
could  be  devised  it  would  be  beneticial. 

Is  there  no  possibility  for  the  Chamber  of  Mines  to  work  with  the  Depart- 
ment for  the  passing  of  such  a  law  ?— I  don't  know  if  laws  exist  in  France, 
Germany,  England  or  America  to  that  specific  effect ;  but,  if  so,  I  would  be 
guided  by  the  wisdom  and  immense  experience  of  the  law-makers  of  those 
countries,  otherwise  we  might  be  nishing  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread. 

Is  it  then  possible  ?  Are  you  willing  to  discuss  the  matter  with  us  ? — Oh 
yes  ;  but  I  do  not  think  that  that  is  exactly  what  is  wanted  in  order  to 
restore  confidence.  Lots  of  things  combine  to  shake  the  confidence  of  inves- 
tors. For  instance,  to  deal  with  some  small  and  homely  matters,  I  was  told 
by  a  member  of  the  Sanitary  Board  yesterday  that  an  application  for  the  under- 
ground rights  of  tlie  Market  Square  had  been  made  by  Mr.  Jan  Meyer,  a 
leading  member  of  the  Volksraad.  That  does  not  help  to  restore  confidence. 
The  Sanitary  Board  applied  for  a  portion  of  the  Telephone  Tower  Park  in 
order  to  erect  a  Town  Hall.  They  were  refused.  Now  sonieone  has  made  an 
application  for  the  right  to  erect  swimming-baths.  That  does  not  restore 
confidence.  I  hope  the  mere  publication  of  these  things  will  prevent  them 
from  succeeding.  The  Sanitary  Board  applied  for  the  Union  Ground,  also  for 
public  purposes,  but  it  was  granted  to  private  applicants  on  the  quiet.  They 
have  hawked  it  about  and  borrowed  money  on  it.  It  was  olFcred  to  many  of 
the  big  capitalists  here,  but  they  would  not  touch  it.  The  Sanitary  Board 
are  told  that  a  building  is  to  be  put  up  in  which  fifty  rooms  will  be  set  aside 
for  them,  but  they  are  not  satisfied  that  the  authorities  should  do  good  by 
stealth  and  blush  to  find  it  fame. 

I  cannot  understand  how  mere  applications  can  shake  confidence  ? — Well, 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  243 

they  do,  because  they  are  only  made  when  there  is  a  chance  of  their  being 
gi-anted.  But,  if  you  want  facts,  I  will  tell  you  what  shook  the  investors' 
confidence  as  much  as  anything  that  has  happened  for  years— that  was  the 
Fevreira  claim-jumping  raid,  which  it  was  sworn  to  in  court  had  been  sug- 
gested by  you  yourself,  Mr.  Joubert. 

Not  '  suggested '  by  me 

Tlie  Chairman  said  the  witness  was  straying  away  from  the  original 
question. 

Witness  said  that  the  Minister  of  Mines  had  wanted  examples  of  what  shook 
confidence,  so  he  was  obliged  to  give  them. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  created  a  very  favourable  impression. 
The  majority  of  people  believed  that  although  it  might  not  be  entirely 
acted  upon,  yet  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  the  President  and  the 
Volksraad  to  disregard  suggestions  made  by  so  influential  a  group  of 
officials  as  those  forming  the  Commission,  and  that  at  any  rate  most 
of  the  recommendations  would  be  accepted.  The  unbelieving  few  who 
knew  their  President  Kruger,  however,  waited  for  something  to  be 
done.  Presently  ominous  rumours  went  round  about  differences  in 
the  Executive.  Then  came  the  scenes  in  the  Volksraad,  when  the 
President  revealed  himself  and  charged  Mr.  Schalk  Burger  with  being 
a  traitor  to  his  country  for  having  signed  such  a  report,  followed  by 
the  usual  fight  and  the  usual  victory  for  the  President,  and  the  usual 
Committee  constituted  mainly  of  extreme  Conservatives  appointed  to 
report  upon  the  other  Commission's  report  ;  and  then  the  usual  result : 
Something  for  nothing.  The  Netherlands  Railway  made  an  incon- 
siderable reduction  in  rates,  which  it  appears  was  designed  to  buy  off, 
and  did  succeed  in  buying  off,  further  scrutiny  of  its  affairs.  With 
regard  to  the  two  big  monopolies,  Dynamite  and  Railway,  it  appears 
that  the  Volksraad  Commission  accepted  the  private  assurances  of  the 
monopolists  as  sufficient  warrant  for  reversing  the  conclusions  of  the 
Industrial  Commission.  The  proposed  Local  Board  for  the  goldfields 
was  promptly  ruled  out  as  an  unthinkable  proposition,  a  government 
within  a  government,  and  was  so  denounced  by  the  President  himself. 
But  the  report  of  the  Volksraad  Committee  contained  one  supreme 
stroke  of  humour.  It  adopted  the  recommendations  of  the  Industrial 
Commission  to  remit  the  duties  upon  certain  articles  of  consumption 
BO  as  to  make  living  cheaper,  but  as  a  condition  it  stipulated  that  in 
order  that  the  State  revenue  should  not  suffer,  the  duty  upon  other 
articles  of  consumption  should  be  increased  so  as  to  rather  more  than 
counterbalance  the  loss.  That  was  one  result  which  the  Uitlanders 
had  in  the  beginning  confidently  expected :  Something  for  nothing. 
But  the  other  result  upon  which  they  had  also  calculated  was  a 
valuable  one.  They  had  put  their  case  on  record,  and  for  the  future 
the  task  of  justifying  the  Uitlanders'  cause  was  to  be  reduced  to  the 
formality  of  pointing  to  the  Industrial  Commission's  report. 

The  third  event  of  importance,  and  an  event  of  much  greater  import- 

16-2 


244  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

ance  than  has  generally  been  recognised,  was  the  Queen's  Kecord 
Reign  celebration  in  Johannesburg.  '  Britons,  hold  up  your  heads  1' 
was  the  watchword  with  which  the  late  Mr.  W.  Y.  Campbell  started 
to  organize  what  he  eventually  carried  out  as  the  biggest  and  most 
enthusiastic  demonstration  ever  made  in  the  country.  No  more 
unselfish  and  loyal  subject  of  Her  Majesty  ever  set  foot  in  South  Africa 
than  Mr.  Campbell,  whose  organization  and  example  to  '  Eand  Britons,' 
as  he  called  them,  did  more  to  hearten  up  British  subjects  in  the 
Transvaal  than  has  ever  been  fully  realized  or  properly  acknowledged. 
The  celebration  was  an  immense  success  in  itself,  and  besides  restoring 
the  hopes  and  spirits  of  British  subjects,  it  promoted  generally  a  better 
feeling  and  a  disposition  to  forget  past  differences. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  the  Raid  and  Reform  had  been  a  split  in 
the  Chamber  of  Mines  caused  by  the  secession  of  a  minority  who  held 
views  strongly  opposed  to  those  of  the  Reform  party.  It  has  always 
been  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  endeavour  to  divide  the  Rand 
community.  This  is  no  vague  general  charge :  many  instances  can 
be  given  extending  over  a  number  of  years.  The  accidental  revelations 
in  a  police  court  showed  that  in  1891  the  Government  were  supporting 
from  the  Secret  Service  Funds  certain  individuals  with  the  object  of 
arranging  labour  unions  to  coerce  employers  upon  various  points.  The 
movement  was  a  hopeless  failure,  because  the  working  men  declined 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  so-called  leaders.  When  the  split 
took  place  in  the  Chamber  of  Mines,  it  became  the  business  of  Dr.  Leyds 
and  the  President  to  keep  the  rift  open.  This  was  done  persistently 
and  in  a  very  open  manner — the  seceders  being  informed  upon  several 
occasions  that  a  fusion  of  the  two  Chambers  would  not  be  welcome  to 
the  Government.  Both  before  and  since  that  time  the  same  policy 
has  found  expression  in  the  misleading  statement  made  on  behalf  of 
the  Government  upon  the  compound  question  (namely,  that  the  com- 
panies were  aiming  at  compounding  all  the  natives  and  monopolizing 
all  the  trade  of  the  Rand),  a  statement  made  to  divide  the  mercantile 
from  the  mining  community.  The  fostering  of  the  liquor  industry 
with  its  thousands  of  disreputable  hangers-on  is  another  example ;  the 
anti- capitalist  campaign  carried  on  by  the  Government  press  another. 
And  the  most  flagrant  of  all,  of  course,  is  the  incitement  to  race  hatred. 
Divide  et  impera  is  a  principle  which  they  apply  with  unfailing  regu- 
larity whether  in  their  relations  with  other  countries,  in  the  government 
of  their  own  State,  or  in  their  dealings  with  private  individuals.  Happily 
for  the  Rand  community  the  effort  to  settle  their  internal  differences 
was  successful ;  towards  the  end  of  1897  the  fusion  of  the  two  mining 
chambers  took  place,  and  the  unanimity  thus  restored  has  not  since 
been  disturbed. 

By  this  time  even  the  most  enthusiastic  and  sanguine  friends  of  the 
Government  had  to  some  extent  realized  the  meaning  of  the  *  some- 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  245 

thing  for  nothing  '  pohcy.  They  began  to  take  count  of  all  that  they 
had  done  to  please  Mr.  Kruger,  and  were  endeavouring  to  find  out 
what  they  had  got  in  return.  The  result,  as  they  were  disposed  to 
admit,  was  that  for  all  the  good  it  had  done  them  they  might  as  well 
have  had  the  satisfaction  of  speaking  their  minds  frankly  as  the  others 
had  done.  The  Eaad's  treatment  of  the  Industrial  Commission  report 
had  estranged  all  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
Commission,  and  as  Mr.  Kruger  had  been  careful  to  select  only  those 
whom  he  believed  to  be  friendly  to  him,  he  suffered  more  in  the  recoil 
than  he  would  otherwise  have  done.  He  fell  into  the  pit  which  he  had 
himself  dug. 

Mr.  Kruger  was  fast  losing  his  friends,  and  another  affair  which 
occurred  about  this  time  helped  to  open  the  eyes  of  those  who  still 
wished  to  view  him  in  a  favourable  light.  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  the 
course  of  some  remarks  had  stated  that  the  President  had  failed  to 
fulfil  the  promises  which  he  had  made  at  the  time  of  the  Eaid.  His 
Honour  took  an  early  opportunity  to  denounce  Mr.  Chamberlain  to 
Mr.  J.  B.  Eobinson  and  the  manager  of  the  then  Government  news- 
paper in  Pretoria.  '  I  would  like  Mr.  Chamberlain  to  quote,'  he  said, 
'  any  instances  of  my  failure  to  keep  my  promises,  and  I  will  know  how 
to  answer  him.'  The  challenge  was  published,  and  Mr.  Chamberlain 
promptly  cabled  instructions  to  the  British  Agent  to  ask  President 
Kruger  whether  he  had  said  this,  and  if  so,  whether  he  really  did 
desire  a  statement  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  of  the  character  indicated. 
Mr.  Kruger  took  his  own  peculiar  way  out  of  the  dilemma ;  he  re- 
pudiated the  intermediaries,  denounced  the  statement  as  untrue,  and 
said  that  he  was  not  in  the  habit  of  conveying  his  requests  through 
irresponsible  nobodies.  The  result  was  the  immediate  resignation  of 
the  newspaper  man  and  final  rupture  between  the  President  and 
Mr.  Eobinson.  Thus  were  two  more  thick- and-thin  supporters  cast  off 
at  convenience  and  without  an  mstant's  hesitation,  and  thus  were  pro- 
vided two  more  witnesses  to  the  '  something  for  nothing '  policy.  This 
incident  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  fusion  of  the  Chambers. 

It  had  all  along  been  realized  that  while  Lord  Eosmead  continued 
to  act  as  High  Commissioner  in  South  Africa  there  would  be  no 
possibility  of  the  Uitlanders'  grievances  being  again  taken  up  by  Her 
Majesty's  Government.  The  High  Commissioner  had  committed 
himself  to  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  unsuitable  and  indeed  im- 
proper to  make  any  representations  on  the  subject  for  a  considerable 
time.  Moreover,  his  age  and  ill-health  rendered  him  unfit  for  so 
arduous  a  task.  Many  hard  things  have  been  said  and  written  about 
the  late  High  Commissioner,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  with  age 
and  mfirmity  weighing  him  dovv^n  he  was  confronted  by  one  of  the 
most  desperate  emergencies  which  have  ever  arisen  to  try  the  nerve  of 
a  proconsul.     It  is  true  that  the  responsibilities  of  Government  are  not 


246  THE  TRANSVAAL  IROM  WITHIN 

to  be  met  by  excuses  :  the  supports  of  the  Empire  must  stand  the 
strain  or  be  condemned.  But  it  is  also  true  that  those  who  regard 
themselves  as  victims  may  not  lightly  assume  the  functions  of  indepen- 
dent judges  :  and  thus  it  was  that  in  a  mood  of  sympathy  and  regret, 
with  perhaps  some  tinge  of  remorse,  the  news  of  Lord  Eosmead's 
death  was  accepted  as  evidence  unanswerable  of  the  burden  which  in 
the  autumn. of  his  days  he  was  called  upon  to  bear. 

When  the  name  of  Sir  Alfred  Milner  was  mentioned  as  the  coming 
High  Commissioner  all  South  Africa  stood  to  attention.  Seldom 
surely  has  a  representative  of  the  Queen  been  put  through  such  an 
ordeal  of  examination  and  inquiry  as  that  to  which  Sir  Alfred  Milner's 
record  was  subjected  by  the  people  of  South  Africa.  Not  one  man  in 
a  thousand  had  heard  his  name  before  ;  it  was  as  some  one  coming  out 
of  the  great  unknown.  The  first  feeling  was  that  another  experiment 
was  being  made  at  the  expense  of  South  Africa ;  but  almost  before  the 
thought  had  formed  itself  came  the  testimony  of  one  and  another  and 
another,  representing  all  parties  and  all  opinions  in  England  ;  and  the 
XJitlanders  in  the  Transvaal  began  to  hope  and  finally  to  believe  that 
at  last  they  were  to  have  a  man  to  deal  with  who  would  exhibit  those 
qualities  of  intelligence,  fairness,  and  firmness,  which  they  regarded  as 
the  essentials.  Every  word  that  was  said  or  written  about  the  new 
High  Commissioner  was  read  and  studied  in  South  Africa.  Every 
reference  made  to  him  by  the  representatives  of  the  various  political 
parties  was  weighed  and  scrutinized,  and  the  verdict  was  that  it  was 
good  !  Fair,  firm  and  able.  There  had  not  been  a  discordant  note  nor 
a  voice  lacking  in  the  chorus  which  greeted  the  appointment ;  and  the 
judgment  was,  *  They  have  given  one  of  England's  very  best.' 

The  impression  had  somehow  gained  ground  in  South  Africa  that  the 
first  act  of  Sir  Alfred  Milner  would  be  to  visit  the  Transvaal  and 
endeavour  to  arrange  matters.  The  hearts  of  the  XJitlanders  sank  at 
the  thought  of  even  the  ablest  and  best-intentioned  of  men  tackling  so 
complicated  a  problem  without  any  opportunity  of  studymg  the  local 
conditions  and  the  details.  It  was  therefore  with  undisguised  satisfac- 
tion that  they  received  the  new  High  Commissioner's  assurance  that 
as  the  representative  of  Her  Majesty  he  had  plenty  of  work  before  him 
in  visiting  and  making  himself  acquainted  with  the  conditions  and 
requirements  of  Her  Majesty's  dominions  in  South  Africa,  the  people 
of  which  had  the  first  call  upon  his  services.  The  statement  cleared 
the  political  atmosphere,  and  had  a  distinctly  cooling  effect  upon  the 
overheated  brain  of  the  Boer  party,  who  had  by  this  time  convinced 
themselves  that  Pretoria  was  firmly  established  as  the  hub  of  the 
universe,  and  that  an  expectant  world  was  waiting  breathlessly  to  know 
what  President  Kruger  would  do  next. 

Mr.  Conyngham  Greene,  an  experienced  member  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  who  had  been  appointed  towards  the  end  of  1896  to  succeed 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  247 

Sir  Jacobus  de  Wet  as  British  Agent  in  Pretoria,  had  by  this  time 
gained  some  experience  of  the  ways  of  Pretoria.  Probably  few  servants 
of  the  Crown  have  been  called  upon  to  perform  a  service  more  exacting 
or  less  grateful  than  that  which  fell  to  the  British  Agent  during  the 
period  in  which  Mr.  Conyngham  Greene  has  held  the  post.  Conscious 
that  his  Government  was  prevented  by  the  acts  of  others  from  vindicat- 
ing its  own  position,  hampered  by  the  knowledge  of  immense  superiority 
of  strength,  dealing  with  people  who  advanced  at  every  turn  and  under 
every  circumstance  their  ono  grievance  as  a  justification  for  all  the 
acts  of  hostility  which  had  preceded  that  grievance  or  had  been 
deliberately  perpetrated  since,  he  was  compelled  to  suffer  snubs  and 
annoyances  on  behalf  of  his  Government,  with  no  relief  but  such  as  he 
could  find  in  the  oflice  of  recording  them.  A  good  deal  had  been  done 
by  Mr.  Conjaigham  Greene  to  establish  visible  and  tangible  evidence 
of  the  desire  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  to  interest  themselves  in  the 
condition  of  British  subjects  and — as  far  as  the  exigencies  of  a  very 
peculiar  case  would  for  the  time  permit — to  protect  them  from  at  least 
the  more  outrageous  acts  of  injustice  ;  but  the  strength  of  the  chain  is 
the  strength  of  the  weakest  link,  and  it  was  always  felt  that  until  the 
link  in  Cape  Town  was  strengthened  there  was  not  much  reliance  to 
be  placed  upon  the  chain. 

Very  frequently  surprise  has  been  expressed  that,  after  the  fortunate 
escape  from  a  very  bad  position  which  the  Jameson  Kaid  afforded  to 
President  Kruger's  party,  the  Boers  should  not  have  learned  wisdom 
and  have  voluntarily  undertaken  the  task  of  putting  their  house  in 
order.  But  having  in  mind  the  Boer  character,  is  it  not  more  natural 
to  suppose  that,  inflated  and  misled  by  a  misconceived  sense  of  success 
and  strength,  they  should  rather  persist  in  and  exaggerate  the  ways 
which  they  had  formerly  affected  ?  So  at  least  the  Uitlanders  thought 
and  predicted,  and  their  apprehensions  were  amply  justified.  In  each 
successive  year  the  Eaad  has  been  relied  upon  to  better  its  previous 
best,  to  produce  something  more  glaring  and  sensational  in  the  way  of 
improper  laws  and  scandalous  measures  or  revelations  than  anything 
which  it  had  before  done.  One  would  imagine  that  it  would  pass  the 
wit  of  man  to  devise  a  means  of  exploiting  the  Uitlanders  which  had 
not  already  been  tried,  but  it  would  truly  appear  that  the  First 
Volksraad  may  be  confidently  relied  upon  to  do  it. 

In  the  year  1897  some  things  were  exposed  which  appeared,  even  to 
the  Uitlanders,  absolutely  incredible.  What  is  now  known  as  the 
'  donkeys  and  mealies  scandal '  was  one  of  them.  For  the  ostensible 
purpose  of  helping  burghers  who  had  been  ruined  by  the  rinderpest 
the  President  arranged  for  the  purchase  of  large  numbers  of  donkeys 
to  be  used  instead  of  oxen  for  draught  purposes,  and  he  also  arranged 
for  the  importation  of  quantities  of  mealies  to  be  distributed  among 
those  who  were  supposed  to  be  starving.     Inquiries  instituted  by  order 


248  THE  TEAKS  VAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

of  the  Volksraad  revealed  the  fact  that  Volksraad  members  and 
Government  officials  were  interested  in  these  contracts.  The  notorious 
Mr.  Barend  Vorster,  who  had  bribed  Volksraad  members  with  gold 
watches,  money,  and  spiders,  in  order  to  secure  the  Selati  Railway 
Concession,  and  who,  a,lthough  denounced  as  a  thief  in  the  Volksraad 
itself,  declined  to  take  action  to  clear  himself  and  was  defended  by  the 
President,  again  played  a  prominent  part.  This  gentleman  and  his 
partners  contracted  with  the  Government  to  supply  donkeys  at  a 
certain  figure  apiece,  the  Government  taking  all  risk  of  loss  from  the 
date  of  purchase.  The  donkeys  were  purchased  in  Ireland  and  in 
South  America  at  one-sixth  of  the  contract  price.  The  contractors 
alleged  that  they  had  not  sufficient  m.eans  of  their  ov/n,  and  received 
an  advance  equal  to  three-quarters  of  the  total  amount  payable  to 
them ;  that  is  to  say,  for  every  deiOO  which  they  had  to  expend  they 
received  ^6450  as  an  unsecured  advance  against  their  profits.  It  is 
believed  that  not  10  per  cent,  of  the  animals  were  ever  delivered  to 
the  farmers  for  whom  they  wiere  ostensibly  bought.  An  attempt  was 
made  in  the  Volksraad  to  have  the  matter  thoroughly  investigated, 
and  to  have  action  taken  against  the  contractors,  but  the  affair  was 
hushed  up  and,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  ascertain,  every  penny 
payable  under  the  contract  has  been  paid  and  lost. 

In  the  matter  of  the  mealies  (maize,  the  ordinary  native  food),  large 
quantities  were  bought  in  South  America.  It  was  alleged  in  the 
Volksraad  that  the  amount  was  far  more  than  was  necessary,  and  that 
the  quality  was  inferior,  the  result  being  that  the  Government  were 
swindled  and  that  the  State,  being  obliged  to  sell  what  it  did  not 
require,  was  entering  unfairly  into  competition  with  the  merchants 
and  producers  in  the  country.  But  the  real  character  of  this  mealie 
swindle  can  only  be  appreciated  when  it  is  known  how  the  contract 
originated.  The  contractors  having  bargained  to  deliver  donkeys, 
approached  the  President  with  the  explanation  that  donkeys  being 
live-stock,  would  have  to  be  accommodated  upon  an  upper  deck  where 
there  was  ample  ventilation ;  the  result  of  which,  they  said,  would  be 
that  the  ship  would  be  top-heavy  and  would  be  obliged  to  take  in 
ballast.  Surely,  it  was  argued,  it  would  be  folly  to  carry  v/orthless 
ballast  when  good  mealies,  which  were  in  any  case  badly  needed  in  the 
country,  would  serve  the  purpose  of  ballasting  equally  well,  and  would, 
of  course,  show  a  very  large  profit.  A  contract  for  mealies  was  there- 
fore entered  into.  When  the  inquiry  was  instituted  in  the  Volksraad 
certain  awkward  facts  came  to  light,  and  it  devolved  upon  Mr.  Barend 
Vorster  to  explain  how  it  happened  that  the  mealie  '  ballast '  arrived 
and  was  paid  for  before  the  donkeys  were  shipped.  That  worthy 
gentleman  may  still  be  thinking  out  the  explanation,  but  as  the  money 
has  been  paid  it  cannot  be  a  cause  of  great  anxiety. 

In  order  to  preserve  a  true  perspective  the  reader  should  realize  that 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  249 

tl-.G  President  defended  both  these  affairs,  and  that  the  exposures  took 
place  while  the  recommendations  of  the  Industrial  Commission  were 
being  discussed  in  the  Eaad  and  fiercely  combated  by  the  President 
himself. 

The  matter  of  the  Selati  Eailway  was  again  brought  into  prominence 
in  1897.  It  is  quite  impossible  as  yet  to  get  at  all  the  facts,  but  it  is 
very  generally  believed  that  a  swindle  of  unusual  dimensions  and 
audacity  remains  to  be  exposed,  and  that  a  real  exposure  would  un- 
pleasantly involve  some  very  prominent  people.  At  any  rate,  the  facts 
which  became  public  in  1898  would  warrant  that  suspicion.  The 
Selati  Eailway  Company  alleged  that  they  had  been  unjustly  deprived 
of  their  rights,  and  the  Government  admitting  repudiation  of  contract, 
took  refuge  in  the  plea  that  in  making  the  contract  they  had  acted 
ultra  vires.  It  v/as,  in  fact,  an  exemplary  case  of  '  thieves  falling  out,' 
and  when  the  case  got  into  the  law  courts  a  point  of  real  interest  to 
the  public  came  out ;  for  the  Company's  lawyers  filed  their  pleadings  I 
The  following  account  of  the  case  is  taken  from  the  newspapers  of  the 
time.     The  plea  of  the  Selati  Eailway  Company  states  that : 

the  Government  was  very  desirous  that  the  railways  should  be  built,  and  that 
for  the  purpose  the  business  should  be  taken  in  hand  by  influential  capitalists, 
and  that,  having  full  knowledge  of  tlie  sums  asked  for  by  the  original  con- 
cessionnaires,  they  insisted  upon  the  said  capitahsts  coming  to  an  agi'eement 
Avith  the  concessionn aires  and  paying  them  the  aniounts  asked  ;  that  it  was 
thus  understood  between  the  said  capitalists  and  the  Government  of  the 
South  African  Republic  that  the  sum  named  in  the  concession  as  the  price  to 
be  paid  to  the  concessionnaires  for  the  formation  of  the  Company  was  wholly 
insufficient  under  the  altered  conditions,  and  that  further  sums  had  to  be 
expended  to  cover  not  only  the  increased  amount  demanded  by  the  original 
concessionnaires,  but  also  other  sums  of  money  ivhich  were  asked  by  and  paid  to 
different  incmhcrs  of  the  Executive  Council  and  Volksraad  of  the  South  African 
Republic  and  their  relatives  and  friends  as  the  price  for  grunting  the  con- 
cession. 

The  matter  came  before  the  High  Court,  and  several  of  the  exceptions  put 
forward  on  behalf  of  the  Government  were  sustained.  Regarding  the  accusa- 
tion mentioned,  Mr.  Advocate  Esselcn,  who  was  counsel  for  the  State,  ex- 
pected that  names  and  particulars  should  be  inserted,  and  also  that  the  State 
was  not  bound  by  tlic  action  of  the  Government  or  Executive.  He  quoted  the 
Volksraad  resolution  or  hesluit  upon  which  the  concession  was  granted, 
showing  that  £10,000  was  mentioned  as  the  sum  to  be  received  by  the  con- 
cessionnaires, and  then  proceeded : 

'  Now,  I  say  that  the  Government  could  not  contract  with  the  Company 
at  a  higher  figure  than  is  above  set  forth.  The  measure  of  authority  granted 
to  the  Government  is  set  forth  in  the  Volksraad  besluit  which  I  have  read, 
and  the  Government  could  not  exceed  its  authority.  Second,  the  defendant 
Company  makes  allegations  which  are  tantamount  to  fraudulent  dealing  on 
the  part  of  the  agents  of  the  State.  But  it  will  be  said  tliat  it  is  the  State 
which  sues,  and  that  it  cannot  be  heard  to  avail  itself  of  the  wrongful  acts  of 
its  agents.  In  this  matter,  however,  it  is  the  State  Secretary  -who  sues  on 
behalf  of  the  State.     The  State  is  not  bound  in  any  event  by  the  acts  of 


250  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

individual  members  of  the  Government.     It  was  the  Government  which  was 
entrusted  with  a  power  of  attorney  on  behalf  of  the  State.' 

This  doctrine,  so  fatal  to  concessionnaires  and  their  methods,  led  to  the 
following  interesting  colloquy : 

Mr.  Justice  Jorissen  :  Do  you  persist  in  this  exception,  Mr.  Esselen  ? 

Mr.  Esselen  :  Certainly  I  do. 

Mr.  Justice  Johissen  :  You  have  been  very  fortunate  in  succeeding  on  two 
exceptions.  Without  pressing  you  in  the  least,  I  am  inclined  to  suggest  that 
you  withdraw  this  exception. 

Mr.  Esselen  :  I  cannot  possibly  withdraw  it,  but  I  am  willing  to  allow  it 
to  stand  as  a  special  plea  and  to  argue  it  at  a  later  stage. 

Mr.  Justice  Jokissen  :  As  I  said,  I  don't  wish  to  press  you,  but  it  seems  to 
me  that  this  is  a  very  dangerous  question. 

Mr.  Esselen  :  It  is  a  very  important  question. 

Mr.  Justice  Jokissen  :  It  is  not  only  an  important  but  a  perilous  question. 

In  an  amended  plea  filed  by  the  Selati  Railway  Company  they  give  the 
names  of  persons  to  Avhom  the  Company  had  to  pay  certain  sums  of  money  or 
give  presents — in  other  words,  bribes — in  order  to  obtain  the  Selati  contract. 
The  following  are  the  names  filed  by  Bai'on  Eugene  Oppcnheim  :  To  W. 
E.  Bok,  then  member  and  minute  keeper  of  the  Executive  Council,  on 
August  12,  1890,  in  cash,  £50  ;  the  late  N.  J.  Smit,  sen.,  then  Vice-President 
of  the  South  African  Republic,  and  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  on 
August  12,  1890,  in  cash,  £500  ;  F.  C.  Elolf,  son-in-law  of  the  President  and 
then  Private  Secretary  to  his  Honour,  on  August  12,  £50  in  cash.  By  De 
Jongh  and  Stegmann,  on  behalf  of  Baron  Oppenhcim,  to  C.  Van  Boeschoten, 
then  Secretary  of  the  Volksraad,  on  October  6,  1893,  in  cash,  £100.  By  B. 
J.  Voi-stcr,  jun.,  one  of  the  concessionnaires,  on  behalf  of  Eugene  Oppenheinij, 
on  or  about  August,  1890,  the  following  :  To  Jan  du  Plessis  de  Beer,  member 
of  the  Volksraad  for  Waterberg,  £100  ;  Schalk  W.  Burger,  member  of  the 
Volksraad  for  Lydenburg,  now  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  £100  ; 
P.  L.  Bezuidenhout,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Potchefstroom,  £100  ; 
J.  Van  der  Merwe,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Lydenburg,  £100  ;  A. 
A.  Stoop,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Wakkerstroom,  £50  ;  F.  G,  H.  Wol- 
marans,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Rustenburg,  £50  ;  J.  M.  Malan,  member 
of  the  Volksraad  for  Rustenburg,  Chairman  of  the  first  Volksraad,  £50  ;  N. 
M.  S,  Prinsloo,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Potchefstroom,  £50  ;  J.  J.  Spies, 
member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Utrecht,  £70  ;  B.  H.  Klopper,  Chairman  of  the 
Volksraad,  £125  ;  C.  van  Boeschoten,  Secretary  of  the  Volksraad,  £180.  By 
J.  N.  de  Jongh,  on  behalf  of  Baron  Eugene  Oppcnheim,  about  the  end  of 
1892  or  the  beginning  of  1893,  to  the  late  N.  J.  Smit,  sen.,  then  Vice-President 
of  the  South  African  Republic,  and  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  shares 
in  the  defendant  Company  to  the  value  of  £1,000  ;  F.  C.  Eloff,  son-in-law  of 
and  then  Private  Secretary  to  the  State  President,  shares  in  the  defendant 
Company  to  the  value  of  £2,000  ;  P.  G.  Mare,  then  member  of  the  Volksraad 
for  Utrecht,  now  Landdrost  of  Boksburg,  shai-es  in  the  defendant  Company 
to  the  value  of  £500.  By  B.  J.  Vorster,  jun.,  on  behalf  of  Baron  Eugene 
Oppenheim,  about  July  or  August,  1890,  to  C.  C.  van  Heerden,  member  of 
the  Volksraad  for  Wakkerstroom,  one  spider  ;  A.  A.  Stoop,  member  of  the 
Volksraad  for  Wakkerstroom,  one  spider ;  F.  G.  H.  Wolmarans,  member  of 
the  Volksraad  for  Rustenburg,  one  spider ;  B.  W.  J.  Steenkamp,  member  of 
the  Volktiraad  for  Piet  Retief,  one  spider  ;  J.  P.  L.  Lombard,  member  of  the 
Volksraad  for  Standerton,  one  spider  ;  H.  F.  Grobler,  member  of  the  Volks- 
raad for  Middelburg,  one  spider  ;  W.  L.  de  la  Rey,  member  of  the  Volksraad 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  251 

for  Blocmhof,  one  spider  ;  D.  W.  Taljaard,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for 
Standerton,  one  spider  ;  J.  C.  van  Zyl,  member  of  tlie  Volksraad  for  Heidel- 
burg,  one  sjnder  ;  J.  P.  Botha,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Pretoria,  one 
spider  ;  H.  P.  Beukes,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Marico,  one  spider  ; 
J.  F.  van  Staden,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  y  ryheid,  one  sriider  ;  J. 
M.  Malan,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Rustenburg,  one  spider  ;  N.  M.  S. 
Prinsloo,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Potchefstroom,  one  cart ;  T.  C.  Grey- 
ling,  member  of  the  Volksraad  for  Heidelberg,  one  cart.     Total  value,  £1,440. 

Twenty-one  members  of  the  First  Volksraad  out  of  twenty-five! 
The  Vice-President  I  The  son-in-law  and  Private  Secretary  of  the 
President  I  The  Secretary  of  the  Volksraad  and  the  Minute  Keeper  of 
the  Executive  1 

The  Volksraad,  one  would  think,  would  be  bound  to  take  cognizance 
of  such  a  statement,  and  to  cause  an  investigation  to  be  held.  They 
did  take  cognizance  of  it  after  the  manner  peculiar  to  them.  But  the 
last  thing  in  the  world  to  be  expected  from  them  was  an  impartial 
investigation  :  nothing  so  foolish  was  ever  contemplated.  There  were 
too  many  in  it,  and  an  investigation  into  the  conduct  of  officials  and 
Eaad  members  would  be  establishing  a  most  inconvenient  precedent. 
Some  members  contented  themselves  with  a  simple  denial,  others 
scorned  to  take  notice  of  such  charges,  and  others  tried  to  explain  them 
away.  No  opinion  need  be  expressed  upon  the  methods  of  the  con- 
cessionnaires ;  nor  does  it  matter  whether  the  company,  by  its  neglect 
or  default,  had  justified  the  act  of  the  Government.  The  point  which 
is  offered  for  consideration  is  that  the  indisputable  fact  of  bribes  having 
been  taken  wholesale  was  ignored,  whilst  the  disputed  question  of 
liability  to  cancellation  was  arbitrarily  settled  by  the  Government  in 
its  own  favour. 

The  crop  of  scandals  in  1897  was  as  the  rolling  snowball.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  refer  to  them  all  in  detail.  The  Union  Ground,  one  of 
the  public  squares  of  Johannesburg,  was  granted  to  a  syndicate  of 
private  individuals  upon  such  terms  that  they  were  enabled  to  sell  the 
right,  or  portion  of  it,  at  once  for  ^25,000  in  cash.  The  Minister  of 
Mines,  in  his  o'lScial  capacity,  strongly  recommended  the  transaction, 
and  was  afterwards  obliged  to  admit  that  he  him  self  had  an  interest  in 
it.  The  Volksraad,  however,  refused  to  confirm  it,  and  the  p  urchaser 
of  the  concession  fell  back  upon  the  President  for  protection.  The 
latter  advised  him  to  remain  quiet  until  the  presidential  election,  which 
was  about  to  take  place,  should  be  over,  and  gave  the  assurance  that 
then  he  would  see  that  the  grant  was  confirmed  by  the  Eaad.  In  the 
session  of  1898  his  Honour  strongly  supported  the  proposal  and  it  was 
duly  carried. 

The  Elofif  location  scandal  was  another  which  greatly  disturbed  even 
the  Volksraad.  Mr.  Frickie  Eloff  is  President  Kruger's  son-in-law, 
and  enjoys  the  unsavoury  reputation  of  being  interested  in  every 
swindle  which  is  worth  being  in  in  the  Transvaal.     A  piece  of  ground 


252  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

lying  to  the  north-west  of  Johannesburg  close  up  to  the  town  had 
originally  been  proclaimed  as  a  goldfield,  but  no  reefs  having  been 
found  there  and  the  ground  not  having  been  pegged,  it  was  after- 
wards withdrawn  from  proclamation.  The  Mining  Commissioner  of 
Johannesburg  in  the  course  of  his  duties  discovered  some  flaw  in  the 
second  or  withdrawing  proclamation.  He  advised  the  head  office  in 
Pretoria  of  this  discovery,  and  stated  that  it  might  be  contended  that 
the  de-proclamation  was  invalid,  and  that  great  loss  and  inconvenience 
would  follow  if  the  ground  were  pegged  and  the  title  upheld.  Within 
twenty- four  hours  the  ground  was  pegged  by  Mr.  Eloff,  but  it  is  not 
known  whence  he  derived  the  inspiration.  His  claim  was  strongly 
opposed  by  the  local  officials.  They  reported  that  the  ground  was 
known  to  be  of  no  value,  and  advised  that  as  the  cost  of  licenses  would 
be  very  considerable  the  obvious  poHcy  of  the  Government  would  be — 
if  the  title  could  not  be  upset — to  wait  until  Mr.  Eloff  should  tire  of 
paying  licenses  on  valueless  ground.  The  Government,  however, 
decided  otherwise  :  they  converted  Mr.  Eloff's  claims  into  residential 
stands  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  made  him  a  present  of  an  immensely 
valuable  piece  of  property,  and  gave  him  title  under  which  he  could 
cut  it  up  into  small  plots  and  readily  sell  it.  This  action  of  the 
Government,  however,  required  confirmation  by  the  Eaad.  The 
matter  came  before  the  Volksraad  in  due  course,  and  that  body 
deliberately  revoked  the  decision  of  the  Government  and  refused 
Mr.  Eloff  any  title  except  what  he  could  claim  according  to  law.  But 
Mr.  Kruger  is  not  so  easily  beaten.  He  soon  discovered  that  the  piece 
of  ground  acquired  by  Mr.  Eloff  was  exactly  the  piece  which  it  was 
necessary  for  the  Government  to  have  for  a  coolie  location,  and  without 
more  ado  the  Government  bought  it  from  Mr.  Eloff  for  ^25,000. 

The  ingenuity  of  the  Boer  mind  in  getting  the  last  possible  fraction 
of  value  out  of  any  transaction  is  well  exemplified  in  this  matter. 
One  would  naturally  conclude  that  a  deal  so  profitable  would  satisfy 
anybody.  But  not  so  I  The  piece  of  ground  commands  the  approach 
to  many  valuable  private  plots  and  residences,  and  it  was  soon  found 
that  apart  from  intrisic  worth  it  might  have  a  blackmailing  value  ;  thus 
towards  the  end  of  1893,  after  the  deal  had  been  completed,  the  owners 
of  these  residences  and  estates  were  privately  approached  with  the 
information  that  the  coolie  location,  consisting  of  shelters  built  of 
scraps  of  iron,  paraffin  tins,  and  old  pieces  of  wood,  was  to  be  removed 
to  this  site  (probably  to  facilitate  the  transference  of  the  present  loca- 
tion site,  which  is  also  very  valuable,  to  some  other  favourite),  but  that 
if  sufficient  inducement  were  offered  by  landowners  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, the  decision  would  be  reconsidered  ! 

The  grant  of  a  Municipality  to  Johannesburg  has  often  been  quoted 
as  an  example  of  something  done  by  Mr.  Kruger  in  the  interests  of  the 
Uitlandcrs.      The   principal   conditions   of    that    grant    are   tliat   all 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  25S 

burghers  of  the  State,  whether  they  have  property  or  not,  shall  be 
entitled  to  vote  for  the  election  of  councillors  ;  that  each  ward  shall  bo 
represented  by  two  councillors,  one  of  whom  must  be  a  burgher ;  and 
that  the  chairman,  or  bxu'gomaster,  shall  be  appointed  by  Government 
and  shall  have  the  right  of  veto.  The  elections  in  at  least  two  of  the 
wards  are  completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  police  and  of  the  poor  Boers 
who  have  no  interest  whatever  in  the  town.  The  burghers  in  Johannes- 
burg— police,  Boers,  and  officials — who  may  number  a  couple  of 
thousand,  including  the  naturalized  lot,  have  therefore  a  permanent 
and  considerable  majority  over  the  Uitlanders,  who  probably  number 
over  40,000  adult  white  males. 

The  scope  and  value  of  this  grant  were  made  manifest  when  the  now 
notorious  sewage  concession  came  under  discussion.  The  Municipality 
had  upon  several  occasi<)ns  endeavoured  to  get  the  right  to  introduce  a 
scheme  for  the  disposal  of  the  sewage  of  the  town,  and  had  applied  for 
authority  to  raise  the  necessary  funds,  but  liad  been  refused.  Suddenly 
a  concession  was  granted  by  the  Government — they  called  it  a  contract 
— to  Mr.  Emmanuel  Jdendelssohn,  the  proprietor  of  the  Standard  and 
Diggers'  News,  the  Government  organ  in  Johannesburg.  He  said  that 
ho  got  it  for  nothmg — possibly  a  reward  for  loyal  services ;  but  he  also 
stated  that  he  was  not  the  sole  owner.  The  value  of  the  grant  was 
estimated  by  the  concessionnaire  himself  to  bo  about  £'1,000,000  sterling, 
and  in  the  lately  published  proposals  which  he  made  to  one  of  the  big 
firms  interested  in  the  Transvaal  he  indicated  how  a  profit  of  £100,000 
a  year  could  be  made  out  of  it.  The  Town  Council  unanimously  and 
vigorously  protested ;  but  the  Government  took  no  notice  of  their 
protest.  They  then  decided  to  apply  to  the  Court  for  an  order 
restraining  the  Government  from  making  this  grant,  on  the  ground 
that  they  had  no  power  to  alienate  a  right  which  belonged  to  the  town 
itself.  In  order  to  make  the  application  to  Court  it  was  necessary,  in 
terms  of  the  constitution  of  the  municipality,  to  obtain  the  signature  of 
the  Burgomaster.  That  oliicial  as  representing  the  Government 
refused  point  blank  to  authorize  the  council  to  dispute  the  Govern- 
ment's action  in  a  Court  of  Law,  and  the  council  were  obliged  to  apply 
for  an  Order  of  Court  compelling  the  Burgomaster  to  sign  the  docu- 
ments necessary  to  enable  them  to  contest  in  the  Courts  of  the  country 
the  validity  of  an  act  of  the  Government  which  was  deemed  to  be 
an  infringement  upon  the  rights  of  the  tov/n.  In  the  face  of  this  the 
President  capitulated  for  the  time  being ;  but  neither  he  nor  the  con- 
cessionnaire makes  any  secret  of  the  determination  to  find  a  quid 
pro  quo. 

The  year  1898  brought  in  its  turn  its  full  share  of  fresh  encroach- 
ments and  exactions.  The  bare  enumeration  of  the  concessions, 
privileges,  and  contracts,  proposed  or  agreed  to,  is  sufficient  to  indicate 
what  must  be  the  condition  of  mind  of  one  whose  interests  are  at  gtake 


254  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

under  such  a  regime.  Not  all  '  concessions,'  '  contracts,'  and  '  pro- 
tected factories '  confer  exclusive  rights,  but  many  might  easily  in 
effect  do  so,  and  all  are  infringements  upon  the  rights  of  the  public. 
Here  are  some  from  the  ofiScial  list  of  1899 :  Dynamite,  Railways, 
Spirits,  Iron,  Sugar,  Wool,  Bricks,  Earthenware,  Paper,  Candles,  Soap, 
Calcium  Carbide,  Oil,  Matches,  Cocoa,  Bottles,  Jam,  etc. 

A  large  loan  had  been  constantly  talked  of  throughout  the  year,  but 
no  one  knew  for  what  purpose  it  could  be  required.  The  Government 
vouchsafed  no  information  at  all,  but  negotiations  were  carried  on  both 
in  Pretoria  and  in  Europe.  Month  after  month  went  by,  but  the 
millions  were  not  forthcoming,  and  the  Government  believed,  or 
affected  to  believe,  that  their  failure  was  due  to  a  conspiracy  among 
the  capitalists,  and  in  retaliation  they  directed  and  subsidized  a  fierce 
anticapitalist  campaign  in  then-  press.  The  explanation  of  failure, 
which  did  not  occur  to  them,  may  have  been  that  investors  believed 
that  the  course  pursued  by  the  Transvaal  Government  must  inevitably 
lead  to  conflict  with  the  paramount  power,  and  they  had  no  faith  and 
no  assurance  that  in  the  event  of  such  a  conflict  taking  place  the 
British  Government  would  take  over  loans  which  must  have  been  con- 
tracted only  for  the  purposes  of  war  against  England. 

The  juggling  with  the  dynamite  question  continued  throughout  the 
year.  The  President  had  successfully  defeated  the  aim  of  the  Volks- 
raad,  and  the  investigation  and  reports  which  had  been  ordered  by 
that  body  in  1897  to  be  made  by  lawyers  and  auditors,  although  duly 
handed  in  to  the  Government,  were  suppressed  by  the  President  and 
not  permitted  to  be  shown  to  the  Eaad.  On  the  contrary,  the  astound- 
ing proposition  was  made  that,  in  return  for  a  very  inconsiderable 
reduction  in  the  cost  of  dynamite  (half  of  which  was  to  be  made  up 
by  the  Government  sacrificing  its  share  of  profits),  and  a  possible 
further  reduction  of  os.  per  case  under  certain  conditions,  the  monopoly 
should  be  renewed  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  all  breaches  in  the  past 
to  be  condoned,  and  cancellation  on  the  ground  of  breach  of  contract 
in  the  future  to  be  impossible.  This  proposal,  it  was  publicly  notified, 
would  be  laid  before  the  Raad  during  the  first  session  of  1899.  The 
existence  of  the  dynamite  monopoly  was  at  this  time  costing  the 
industry  £600,000  a  year,  and  on  every  possible  occasion  it  was  repre- 
sented to  the  Government  that,  if  they  really  did  need  further  revenue, 
in  no  way  could  it  be  more  easily  or  more  properly  raised  than  by 
exercising  their  undoubted  right  to  cancel  the  monopoly  and  by  im- 
posing a  duty  of  such  amount  as  might  be  deemed  necessary  upon 
imported  dynamite.  It  was  also  pointed  out  that  the  proposed  reduc- 
tion in  the  cost  of  dynamite  would  offer  no  relief  whatever,  since  it  was 
far  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  taxes  upon  mynpachts  and  profits 
which  were  then  being  imposed. 
During  this  year  the  Volksraad  instructed  the  Government  to  enforce 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  255 

their  right  to  collect  2^  per  cent,  of  the  gross  production  from 
mynpachts  (mining  leases).  All  mynpacht  titles  granted  by  the 
Government  contained  a  clause  giving  the  Government  this  power,  so 
that  they  were  acting  strictly  within  their  legal  right ;  but  the  right 
had  never  before  been  exercised.  For  twelve  years  investors  had  been 
allowed  to  frame  their  estimates  of  profit  upon  a  certain  basis,  and 
suddenly,  without  a  day's  warning,  this  tax  was  sprung  upon  them. 
It  was  indisputably  the  right  of  the  Government,  but  equally  indis- 
putably was  it  most  unwise ;  both  because  of  the  manner  in  wliich  it 
was  done  and  because  there  was  no  necessity  whatever  for  the  doing 
of  it,  as  the  revenue  of  the  country  was  already  greatly  in  excess  of 
the  legitimate  requirements.  Immediately  following  this  came  a 
resolution  to  impose  a  tax  of  5  per  cent,  upon  the  profits  of  all  com- 
panies working  mining  ground  other  than  that  covered  by  mynpacht. 
The  same  objections  applied  to  this  tax  with  the  additional  one,  that 
no  clause  existed  in  the  titles  indicating  that  it  could  bo  done,  and  no 
warning  had  ever  been  given  that  it  would  be  done.  The  proposal  was 
introduced  one  morning  and  adopted  at  once ;  the  first  notice  to  in- 
vestors was  the  accomplished  fact.  These  measures  were  particularly 
keenly  resented  in  France  and  Germany. 

The  grievance  of  hasty  legislation  was  in  these  cases  aggravated  by 
the  evidence  that  the  taxes  were  quite  unnecessary.  President  Kruger 
stiU  fought  against  cancellation  of  the  Dynamite  Monopoly,  by  which 
the  State  revenue  would  have  benefited  to  the  extent  of  i;600,000  a 
year,  if  he  had  accepted  the  proposal  of  the  Uitlanders  to  allow  im- 
portation of  dynamite  subject  to  a  duty  of  £2  per  case — a  tax  which 
represented  the  monopolists'  profit,  and  would  not  therefore  have 
increased  the  cost  of  the  article  to  the  mines.  He  still  persisted  in 
squandering  and  misapplying  the  public  funds.  He  still  openly 
followed  the  policy  of  satisfying  his  burghers  at  the  Uitlanders' 
expense ;  but  the  burghers  have  a  growing  appetite,  and  nothing  shows 
the  headlong  policy  of  *  squaring ' — nothing  better  illustrates  the 
Uitlanders'  grievance  of  reckless  extravagance  in  administration — than 
the  list  of  fixed  salaries  as  it  has  grown  year  by  year  since  the  gold- 
fields  became  a  factor. 

TRANSVAAL  FIXED  SALARIES. 

£         8.   d. 

1886         61,831     3    7 

1887         99,083  12    8 

1888  164,466     4  10 

1889  249,641  10  10 

1890  324,520     8  10 

1891  332,888  13     9 

1892  323,608     0    0 

1893    ^   361,275  6  11 

1894 419.775  13  10 


266  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

£    s.  d. 

1895 570,047  12  7 

1896    813,029  7  5 

1897    996,959  19  11 

1898    1,080,382  3  0 

1899  (Budget)  1,216,394  5  0 

That  is  to  say,  the  Salary  List  is  now  twenty-four  times  as  great  as 
it  was  when  the  Uitlanders  began  to  come  in  in  numbers.  It  amounts 
to  nearly  five  times  as  much  as  the  total  revenue  amounted  to  then.  It 
is  now  sufficient,  if  equally  distributed,  to  pay  £40  per  head  per  annum 
to  the  total  male  Boer  population. 

The  liquor  curse  has  grown  to  such  dimensions,  and  the  illicit  liquor 
organization  has  secured  such  a  firm  hold,  that  even  the  stoutest 
champions  of  law  and  order  doubt  at  times  whether  it  will  ever.be 
possible  to  combat  the  evil.  The  facts  of  the  case  reflect  more  un- 
favourably upon  the  President  than  perhaps  any  other  single  thing. 
These  are  the  facts :  The  law  prohibits  the  sale  of  liquor  to  natives ; 
yet  from  a  fifth  to  a  third  of  the  natives  on  the  Rand  are  habitually 
drunk.  The  fault  rests  with  a  corrupt  and  incompetent  administra- 
tion. That  administration  is  in  the  hands  of  the  President's  relations 
and  personal  following.  The  remedy  urged  by  the  State  Secretary, 
State  Attorney,  some  members  of  the  Executive,  the  general  public, 
and  the  united  petition  of  all  the  ministers  of  religion  in  the  country, 
is  to  entrust  the  administration  to  the  State  Attorney's  department 
and  to  maintain  the  existing  law.  In  the  face  of  this  President  Kruger 
has  fought  hard  to  have  the  total  prohibition  law  abolished,  and  has 
successfully  maintained  his  nepotism — to  apply  no  worse  construction  1 
In  replying  to  a  deputation  of  liquor-dealers  ho  denounced  the  existing 
law  as  an  'immoral'  one,  because  by  restricting  the  sale  of  liquor  it 
deprived  a  number  of  honest  people  of  their  livelihood — and  President 
Krugor  is  a  total  abstainer  1 

The  effect  of  this  hquor  trade  is  indescribable  ;  the  loss  in  money, 
although  enormous,  is  a  minor  consideration  compared  with  the  crimes 
committed  and  the  accidents  in  the  mines  traceable  to  it ;  and  the 
effect  upon  the  native  character  is  simply  appalling. 

Much  could  be  said  about  this  native  question  apart  from  the  subject 
of  drink,  for  it  is  one  which  is  very  difficult  of  just  appreciation  by 
any  but  those  who  have  had  considerable  experience  of,  and  personal 
contact  with,  the  natives.  It  is  one  upon  which  there  is  a  great 
divergence  of  views  between  the  people  of  Europe  and  the  people  of 
South  Africa.  South  Africans  beUeve  that  they  view  it  from  the 
rational  standpoint,  they  believe  also  that  Europeans  as  a  rule  view  it 
more  from  the  sentimental.  The  people  who  form  their  opinions  from 
the  writings  and  reports  of  missionaries  only,  or  who  have  in  their 
mind's  eye  the  picturesque  savage  in  his  war  apparel  as  seen  at  Earl's 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  257 

Court,  or  the  idealized  native  of  the  novelist,  cannot  possibly  under- 
stand the  real  native.  The  writer  holds  South  African  views  upon  the 
native  question — that  is  to  say,  that  the  natives  are  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  a  race  of  children,  and  should  be  treated  as  such,  with  strict 
justice  and  absolute  fidelity  to  promise,  whether  it  be  of  punishment 
or  reward :  a  simple  consistent  poHcy  which  the  native  mind  can  grasp 
and  will  consequently  respect. 

With  this  in  mind  it  will,  perhaps,  be  believed  that  the  recital  of 
certain  instances  of  injustice  is  not  made  with  the  object  of  appealing 
to  sentimentalism,  or  of  obliquely  influencing  opinions  which  might 
otherwise  be  unfavourable  or  indifferent.  The  cases  quoted  in  this 
volume  are  those  which  have  been  decided  by  the  courts,  or  the 
evidence  in  support  of  them  is  given,  and  they  are  presented  because 
they  are  typical  cases,  and  not,  except  in  the  matter  of  public  exposure, 
isolated  ones.  The  report  of  the  case  of  Toeremetsjani,  the  native 
chieftainess,!  is  taken  verbatim  from  one  of  the  newspapers  of  the  time. 
The  woman  is  the  head  of  the  Secocoeni  tribe,  whose  successful 
resistance  of  the  Transvaal  Government  was  one  of  the  alleged  causes 
of  the  annexation.  A  good  deal  could  be  said  about  the  ways  of 
Native  Commissioners  in  such  matters.  Much  also  could  be  said  about 
the  case  of  the  British  Indians  and  the  effect  upon  the  population  of 
India  which  is  produced  by  the  coming  and  going  of  thousands  of 
these  annually  between  India  and  the  Transvaal,  and  their  recital  of 
the  treatment  to  which  they  are  subjected,  their  tales  of  appeals  to 
the  great  British  Government,  and  their  account  of  the  latter's  inability 
to  protect  them.  Much  also  could  be  said  of  the  Cape  Boy  question, 
but  sufficient  prominence  has  been  given  to  these  maiters  by  the  publi- 
cation of  the  official  documents  and  the  report  of  the  inquiry  into 
Field-Cornet  Lombaard's  conduct,  which  was  held  at  the  instance  of 
the  British  Government. 

It  is  not  suggested  that  if  the  Government  in  the  Transvaal  were 
influenced  by  the  vote  of  the  white  British  subjects,  or  if  it  were 
entirely  dominated  by  such  vote,  any  encouragement  would  be  given 
to  the  Indian  hawkers^  and  traders,  or  that  there  would  be  any  disposi- 
tion whatever  to  give  voting  rights  to  coloured  people  of  any  kind,  but 
it  is  suggested  that  a  more  enlightened  and  a  more  just  system  of 
treatment  would  be  adopted  ;  and  in  any  case  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
there  would  be  no  appeals  to  the  British  Govemmcj.t,  involving 
exhibitions  of  impotency  on  the  part  of  the  Empire  to  protect  its 
subjects,  followed  by  the  deliberate  repetition  of  treatment  which 
might  become  the  subject  of  remonstrance.  The  untutored  mind  is 
not  given  to  subtleties  and  sophistries ;  direct  cause  and  effect  are  as 
much  as  it  can  grasp.  These  it  does  grasp  and  firmly  hold,  and  the 
simple  inferences  are  not  to  be  removed  by  any  amount  of  argument 
^  See  Appendix  K. 

17 


258  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

or  explanation,  however  plausible.  There  is  scarcely  a  Uitlander  in 
the  Transvaal  who  would  not  view  with  dismay  the  raising  of  the  big 
question  upon  such  grounds  as  the  treatment  of  the  natives,  the  Cape 
boys,  or  the  Indians;  and  the  fact  that  the  Transvaal  Government 
know  this  may  account  for  much  of  the  provocation  on  these  questions. 
It  is  nevertheless  undeniable  that  white  British  subjects  in  the  Trans- 
vaal do  suffer  fresh  humiliation  and  are  substantially  lowered  in  the 
eyes  of  the  coloured  races,  because  appeals  are  made  on  their  behalf  to 
the  British  Government,  and  those  appeals  arcs  useless.  The  condition 
of  affairs  should  be  that  such  appeals  would  be  unnecessary,  and  would 
therefore  become — in  practice — impossible.  Such  a  condition  of  affairs 
would  obtain  under  a  friendly  and  more  enlightened  government,  and 
the  only  security  for  the  voluntary  continuance  of  such  conditions  is 
the  enfranchisement  of  the  Uitlander  population. 

In  the  midst  of  all  that  was  gloomy,  unfavourable  and  unpromising 
there  came  to  the  Uitlanders  one  bright  ray  of  sunshine.  Dr.  Leyds, 
who  had  been  re-elected  State  Secretary  on  the  understanding  that  he 
would  resign  immediately  in  order  to  take  up  the  post  of  plenipotentiary 
in  Europe,  and  whom  the  Boers  with  a  growing  anti-Hollander  and 
pro -Afrikander  feeling  would  no  longer  tolerate,  relinquished  his  office. 
In  his  stead  was  appointed  Mr.  F.  W.  Eeitz,  formerly  President  of  the 
Free  State,  a  kindly,  honourable,  and  cultured  gentleman,  whose  indi- 
vidual sympathies  were  naturally  and  strongly  progressive,  but  who, 
unfortunately,  has  not  proved  himself  to  be  sufficiently  strong  to  cope 
with  President  Kruger  or  to  rise  above  division  upon  race  lines  in 
critical  times.  Shortly  afterwards  Mr.  Christiaan  Joubert,  the  Minister 
of  Mines,  a  man  totally  unfit  from  any  point  of  view  to  hold  any  office 
of  responsibility  or  dignity,  was  compelled  by  resolution  of  the  Second 
Volksraad  to  hand  in  his  resignation.  His  place  was  filled  by  a  Hol- 
lander official  in  the  Mining  Department,  who  commanded  and  still 
commands  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  parties.  The  elevation  of 
the  Acting  State  Attorney  to  the  Bench  left  yet  another  highly  re- 
sponsible post  open,  and  the  Government  choice  fell  upon  Mr.  J.  C. 
Smuts,  an  able  and  conscientious  young  barrister,  and  an  earnest 
worker  for  reform.  An  Afrikander  by  birth,  and  educated  in  the  Cape 
Colony,  he  had  taken  his  higher  degrees  with  great  distinction  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  had  been  called  to  the  English  Bar. 

But  there  came  at  the  same  time  another  appointment,  which  was 
not  so  favourably  viewed.  There  was  still  another  vacancy  on  the 
Bench,  and  it  became  known  that,  in  accordance  with  the  recom- 
mendation expressed  by  the  Piaad  that  all  appointments  should  when- 
ever possible  be  first  offered  to  sons  of  the  soil,  i.e.,  born  Transvaalers, 
it  was  intended  to  appoint  to  this  judgeship  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
four  years  of  age  lately  called  to  the  Bar,  the  son  of  the  Executive 
Member  Kock   already  referred   to  in   this   volume.     The   strongest 


THREE  YEARS'  GRACE  259 

objection  was  made  to  this  proposal  by  all  parties,  including  the  friends 
of  the  Government ;  the  most  prominent  of  all  objectors  were  some  of 
the  leading  members  of  the  Bar,  who,  it  was  believed,  carried  influence 
and  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Government.  A  delay  took  place,  and 
it  was  at  one  time  believed  that  President  Kruger  had  abandoned  his 
intention,  but  it  is  understood  that  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  President  by  a  considerable  party  of  his  followers,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  few  days  the  appointment  was  duly  gazetted. 

The  selection  of  educated  and  intelligent  Afrikanders,  sincerely 
desirous  of  purifying  the  administration,  for  such  responsible  offices  as 
those  of  State  Secretary  and  State  Attorney,  was  gratefully  welcomed 
by  the  Uitlander  community,  who  believed  that  only  through  the 
influence  of  such  men  consistently  and  determinedly  exerted  could  a 
peaceful  solution  of  many  difficult  questions  be  found.  It  is  but  bare 
justice  to  these  gentlemen  to  state  that  never  were  they  found  wanting 
in  good  intention  or  honest  endeavour,  ready  at  all  times  to  inquire 
into  subjects  of  complaint,  anxious  at  all  times  to  redress  any  legitimate 
grievances.  To  them  and  to  many  other  less  prominent  but  no  less 
worthy  officials  of  the  Transvaal  Civil  Service,  whom  it  is  impossible 
to  name  and  to  whom  it  might  prove  to  be  no  good  turn  if  they  were 
named,  is  due  an  expression  of  regret  that  they  may  perhaps  suffer  by 
references  which  are  not  directed  against  them,  but  which  are  justified 
by  a  rotten  system,  and  are  called  for  by  the  action  of  others  over 
whom  these  men  have  no  control.  Nobody  but  one  intimately  con- 
cerned in  Transvaal  affairs  can  appreciate  the  unpleasant  and  undeserved 
lot  of  the  honest  official  who  necessarily,  but  most  unjustly,  suffers  by 
association  with  those  who  deserve  all  that  can  be  said  against  them. 

It  is  very  well  known  that  the  gentlemen  above  referred  to  would,  if 
it  were  in  their  power,  readily  accord  the  terms  asked  for  in  the 
franchise  memorandum  recently  submitted  by  the  Uitlanders,  but  they 
are  unfortunately  entirely  without  influence  over  the  President  and  his 
party.  It  is  true  that — although  British  subjects  by  birth — they  have 
chosen  to  associate  themselves  with  the  Transvaal  Government  and 
are  now  uncompromising  republicans  ;  but  there  is  no  fault  to  be  found 
with  that.  It  may  be  true,  also,  that  they  aspire  to  republicanize  the 
whole  of  South  Africa,  and  free  it  of  the  Imperial  influence ;  that 
would  be  a  cause  of  enmity  as  between  them  and  those  who  desire  to 
preserve  the  Imperial  connection,  but  it  is  no  ground  for  reproach. 
There  is  one  point,  however,  upon  which  they,  in  common  with  nearly 
all  the  enlightened  Afrikanders  throughout  South  Africa,  may  be 
adjudged  to  have  fallen  short  in  their  duty ;  it  is  this,  that  whilst  nine 
times  out  of  ten  they  divide  upon  sound  principles,  they  will  not  follow 
that  policy  to  a  conclusion  ;  for  upon  the  tenth  occasion  they  will  sub- 
ordinate principle,  and,  at  the  call  of  one  who  may  use  it  unscrupulously, 
will  rally  upon  race  lines  alone.     It  is  only  too  true  of  only  too  many 

17-2 


260  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

that  they  cannot  be  got  to  see  that  if  they  would  really  divide  upon 
principles,  all  danger  of  conflict  would  disappear  and  the  solution 
would  be  both  speedy  and  peaceful ;  for  it  is  the  division  upon  race 
lines  that  alone  raises  the  distracting  prospect  of  war. 

For  those  who  are  in  this  position  in  the  Transvaal  it  may  be  allowed 
that  their  difficulties  are  great.  They  cannot,  it  is  true,  complain  of 
lack  of  warning.  They  did  not,  it  is  also  true,  after  trying  their 
influence  and  finding  it  of  no  avail,  cut  adrift  when  they  might  have 
done  so,  and  by  their  example  have  so  stripped  the  reactionaries  of  all 
support  that  there  could  now  be  no  question  of  their  standing  out ;  but 
they  may  have  honestly  believed  that  they  would  in  time  succeed, 
whilst  the  Uitlanders,  judging  from  a  long  and  bitter  experience,  felt 
that  they  would  not  and  could  not.  They  may  say  that  this  is  no 
time  to  part  from  those  with  whom  they  associated  themselves  in 
times  of  peace.  Such  reasoning  may  provide  an  excuse  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, but  no  such  plea  will  avail  for  those  without  the  Transvaal  who 
have  let  the  day  of  opportunity  go  past,  and  who  cry  out  their  fright- 
ened protest  now  that  the  night  of  disaster  is  upon  us. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    END 

So  the  year  dragged  on  with  its  one  little  glimmer  of  light  and  its  big 
black  clouds  of  disappointment,  and  it  was  Christmas-time  when  the 
spark  came  to  the  waiting  tinder.  What  a  bloody  bill  could  the 
holidays  and  holy  days  of  the  world  tot  up  1  On  the  Sunday  night 
before  Christmas,  a  British  subject  named  Tom  Jackson  Edgar  was 
shot  dead  in  his  own  house  by  a  Boer  policeman.  Edgar,  who  was  a 
man  of  singularly  fine  physique  and  both  able  and  accustomed  to  take 
care  of  himself,  was  returning  home  at  about  midnight  when  one  of 
three  men  standing  by,  who,  as  it  afterwards  transpired,  was  both  ill 
and  intoxicated,  made  an  offensive  remark.  Edgar  resented  it  with  a 
blow  which  dropped  the  other  insensible  to  the  ground.  The  man's 
friends  called  for  the  police,  and  Edgar,  meanwhile,  entered  his  own 
house  a  few  yards  off.  There  was  no  attempt  at  concealment  or 
escape ;  Edgar  was  an  old  resident  and  perfectly  well  known.  Four 
pohcemen  came,  who  in  any  circumstances  were  surely  sufficient  to 
capture  him.  Moreover,  if  that  had  been  considered  difficult,  other 
assistance  could  have  been  obtained,  and  the  house  from  which  there 
could  have  been  no  escape  might  have  been  watched.  In  any  case, 
Edgar  was  admitted  by  the  pohce  to  have  sat  on  the  bed  talking  to  his 
wife,  and  to  have  been  thus  watched  by  them  through  the  window.  It 
is  not  stated  that  they  called  upon  him  to  come  out  or  surrender  him- 
self, but  they  prccoeded  immediately  to  burst  in  his  door.     Hearing 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  261 

the  noise,  he  came  out  into  the  passage.  He  may  or  may  not  have 
known  that  they  were  police  :  he  may  or  may  not  have  beheved  them 
to  be  the  three  men  by  one  of  whom  he  had  been  insulted.  A  Boer 
policeman  named  Jones  (there  are  scores  of  Boers  unable  to  speak  a 
word  of  English,  who  nevertheless  own  very  characteristic  English, 
Scotch,  and  Irish  names — many  of  them  being  children  of  deserters 
from  the  British  army  1)  revolver  in  hand  burst  the  door  open.  It  is 
alleged  by  the  prisoner  and  one  of  the  police  that,  as  the  door  was 
burst  open,  Edgar,  from  the  passage,  struck  the  constable  on  the  head 
twice  mth  an  iron-shod  stick,  which  was  afterwards  produced  in  Court. 
On  the  other  hand,  Mrs.  Edgar  and  other  independent  witnesses — 
spectators — testified  that  Edgar  did  not  strike  a  blow  at  all,  and  could 
not  possibly  have  done  so  in  the  time.  The  fact,  however,  upon  which 
all  witnesses  agree  is  that,  as  the  police  burst  open  the  door.  Constable 
Jones  fired  at  Edgar  and  dropped  him  dead  in  the  arms  of  his  wife, 
who  was  standing  in  the  passage  a  foot  or  so  behind  him.  On  the 
following  morning,  the  policeman  was  formally  arrested  on  the  charge 
of  manslaughter,  and  immediately  released  upon  his  comrades'  sureties 
of  ^200. 

As  gunpowder  answers  to  the  spark,  so  the  indignation  of  the  Uit- 
lander  community  broke  out".  The  State  Attorney,  to  whom  the  facts 
were  represented  by  the  British  Agent  in  Pretoria,  immediately  ordered 
the  re- arrest  of  the  policeman  on  the  charge  of  murder.  The  feeUng 
of  indignation  was  such  among  British  subjects  generally,  but  more 
especially  among  Edgar's  fellow- workmen,  that  it  was  decided  to 
present  a  petition  to  Her  Majesty  praying  for  protection.  British 
subjects  were  invited  to  gather  in  the  Market  Square  in  order  to 
proceed  in  a  body  to  the  office  of  the  British  Vice-Consul  and  there 
present  the  petition ;  but  in  order  to  avoid  any  breach  of  the  Public 
Meetings  Act,  they  were  requested  to  avoid  speech-making  and  to 
refrain  in  every  way  from  any  provocation  to  disorder.  Some  four  or 
five  thousand  persons  gathered  together.  They  listened  to  the  reading 
of  the  petition,  and  marched  in  an  orderly  manner  to  the  office  of  the 
British  Vice-Consul,  where  the  petition  was  read  and  accepted. 

This  was  the  first  direct  appeal  to  Her  Majesty  made  by  British 
subjects  since  the  protests  against  the  retrocession  eighteen  years  before. 
Not  very  many  realized  at  the  time  the  importance  of  the  change  in 
procedm-e.  There  could  be  no  "  As  you  were  "  after  the  direct  appeal: 
either  it  would  be  accepted,  in  which  event  the  case  of  the  Uitlanders 
would  be  in  the  hands  of  an  advocate  more  powerful  than  they  had  ever 
proved  themselves  to  be,  or  it  would  be  declined,  a  course  which  would 
have  been  regarded  as  sounding  the  death-kneU  of  the  Empire  in  South 
Africa,  The  time  was  one  of  the  most  intense  anxiety ;  for  the  future 
of  the  Uitlanders  hung  upon  the  turn  of  the  scale. 

It  was  late  one  night  when  those  who  had  been  called  to  Pretoria  to 


262  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

receive  the  reply  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  returned  to  the  Eand. 
The  real  reply  then  was  known  only  to  three  men  ;  it  was  simply  point 
blank  refusal  to  accept  the  petition.  There  were  no  reasons  and  no 
explanations.  It  was  done  on  the  authority  of  Sir  William  Butler,  the 
Commander-in-Chief  in  South  Africa  and  acting  High  Commissioner  ; 
for  Sir  Alfred  Milner  was  at  that  time  in  England,  as  also  was  Mr. 
Conyngham  Greene.  But  the  faith  was  in  these  men  that  it  could  not 
be  true,  that  it  could  not  have  happened  had  Sir  Alfred  Milner  not  been 
absent,  and  thus  came  the  suggestion  to  '  explain  it  away.'  On  the 
following  day  British  subjects  on  the  Eand  learned  that  a  breach  of 
diplomatic  etiquette  had  been  committed,  that  the  petition  should  never 
have  been  published  before  being  formally  presented  to  Her  Majesty, 
and  that  thus  it  would  be  necessary  to  prepare  and  present  another  in 
proper  form.  The  petition  was  redrawn,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
following  weeks  upwards  of  21,000  signatures  were  obtained  by  that 
loyal  and  enthusiastic  little  band  of  British  subjects  who  form  the 
Johannesburg  branch  of  the  South  African  League. 

In  the  meantime  other  things  had  been  happening.  Messrs. 
Thomas  E.  Dodd  and  Clement  Davies  Webb  had  been  arrested  under 
the  Public  Meetings  Act  for  having  organized  an  illegal  meeting  in  the 
Market  Square,  Johannesburg,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  the  petition 
to  the  British  Vice-Consul.  They  were  released  upon  bail  of  jG1,000 
each.  Whether  this  was  a  fair  example  of  the  judicial  perspective  in 
the  Transvaal,  or  whether  it  was  a  concession  to  the  feelings  of  the 
B6ers,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  nor  does  it  much  matter.  The  fact  is 
that  for  the  crime  of  killing  a  British  subject  the  bail  was  ^200  ;  and 
for  the  crime  of  objecting  to  it  the  bail  was  j61,000.  This  action  only 
added  fuel  to  the  fire,  and  a  public  meeting  was  immediately  convened 
to  be  held  in  a  circus  building  known  as  the  Amphitheatre.  Meetings 
are  permitted  under  the  Act  provided  they  are  held  in  an  enclosed 
building.  The  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  record  a  protest  against  the 
arrest  of  Messrs.  Dodd  and  Webb.  A  great  many  of  the  more  ardent 
among  the  British  subjects  were  of  opinion  that  the  time  for  protests  and 
petitions  was  past,  and  they  would  not  attend  the  meeting.  A  great 
many  others,  feeling  that  it  was  more  or  less  a  formality  leading  to 
nothing  else,  did  not  trouble  to  attend.  Not  one  of  those  who  did 
attend  had  the  least  suspicion  of  any  organized  opposition.  The  fol- 
lowing dispatch  from  the  High  Commissioner  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  the  Colonies  sufficiently  describes  the  sequel : 

Government  House,  Cape  Town, 

April  5,  1899. 
Sir, 

I  have  the  honour  to  forward  herewith  the  certified  and  attested 
copies  of  affidavits  which  form  an  enclosure  to  Mr.  Wyberg's  letter,  trans- 
mitted to  you  in  my  despatch  of  the  28th  March,  but  which  did  not  reach  me 
in  time  to  catch  the  last  mail  steamer. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  263 

From  these  affidavits,  the  number  of  which  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
confirm  one  another  seem  to  me  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  general  trust- 
worthiness, it  appears  : 

1.  That  early  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  the  14th  January,  the  foremen 
in  charge  of  the  various  camps  along  the  Main  Reef  Road  were  instructed  to 
tell  a  certain  number  of  their  workmen  to  be  at  the  Amphitheatre  in  Johan- 
nesburg at  2  p.m.,  where  ihey  would  be  addressed  by  an  official  of  the  Public 
Works  Department,  Mr.  P.  J.  Malan  (Hoofd  van  Afdeeling  Wegen). 

2.  Tliat  the  affair  had  been  planned  beforeliand,  and  that  Acting  Road 
Inspector  Papenfus  and  others  systematically  visited  the  various  camps  on 
that  morning  in  order  to  beat  up  recruits,  and  that  inquiry  was  made  in  some 
cases  to  insure  that  the  persons  sent  should  be  '  treu,'  t.e.,  Boer  or  Afrikander 
workmen  who  might  be  expected  to  take  the  side  of  the  Government.  The 
Russian  workmen  were  not  asked  to  go, 

3.  That  the  men  were  paid  two  hours  earlier  than  usual,  and  that  those 
men  who  were  ordered  to  go  were  told,  ifthey  could  not  get  Government  carts, 
they  should  hire  and  recover  afterwards. 

4.  That  in  some  cases,  as  that  of  the  Boksburg  section,  the  men  were  con- 
veyed the  greater  part  of  the  way  by  Government  carts. 

5.  That  when  the  men  arrived  at  the  Amphitheatre,  about  2  p.m.,  a  man, 
who  was  either  Mr.  Bosraan,  Second  Landdrost's  Clerk,  or  Mr.  Boshof, 
Registrar  of  the  Second  Criminal  Court,  and  perhaps  both  of  them,  told  them 
to  go  to  the  Police  Station. 

6.  That  on  arriving  at  the  Police  Station  they  were  addressed  by  Mr. 
Broeksma,  Third  Public  Prosecutor,  and  told  they  were  there  to  break  up  the 
meeting  when  he  gave  them  certain  signals. 

7.  That  they  then  went  into  the  Amphitheatre,  and  that  there  were  present, 
besides  Mr.  Broeksma,  Mr.  Papenfus,  Mr.  Jacobs  (Special  Road  Inspector), 
Mr.  de  Villiers  (Second  Public  Prosecutor),  and  Mr.  Burgers,  also  an  official, 
as  well  as  several  prominent  members  of  the  Town  and  Special  Police  in  plain 
clothes. 

8.  That  the  different  sections  of  the  Road  party  men  were  placed  in  various 
parts  of  the  building,  under  their  respective  foremen,  and  that  several  Govern- 
ment officials  assisted  in  locating  them. 

9.  That  a  number  of  the  men  did  not  understand  what  they  were  there  for. 

10.  That  the  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  promoters  of  the  meeting, 
which,  as  you  are  aware,  had  been  sanctioned  by  the  Government,  were 
perfectly  regular. 

11.  That  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  promoters  of  the  meeting  there  was 
a  concerted  disturbance,  which  rendered  it  totally  impossible  to  go  on  with 
the  proceedings. 

12.  That  in  the  riot  which  followed  several  people  were  seriously  injured, 
the  sufferers  in  every  case  being  bond  fide  sympathizers  with  the  object  of  the 
meeting,  and  the  aggressors  being  persons  who  had  come  there  with  the  object 
of  breaking  it  up. 

13.  That  the  Police  did  not  make  the  smallest  effort  to  check  the  disturb 
ances,  though  it  would  have  been  easy  to  do  so,  and  that,  when  appealed  to, 
they  maintained  an  attitude  of  indilFerence. 

14.  That  Broeskma,  Third  Public  Prosecutor,  and  Lieutenant  Murphy,  of 
the  Morality  Police,  actually  assisted  in  breaking  chairs,  and  encouragedf  the 
rioters. 

I  have,  etc., 

A.    MiLNER, 

Governor  and  Hiah  Commissioner. 


'r:^ 


264  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

With  aiJairs  of  this  kind  stirring  up  race  hatred  and  feeling  among 
the  class  from  whom  the  juries  have  to  be  selected,  what  chance  was 
there  of  securin  g  an  impartial  trial  of  the  policeman  charged  with  the 
murder  of  Edgar  ?  The  Acting  British  Agent,  Mr.  Edmund  Eraser, 
in  his  dispatch  of  December  23  tells  what  he  thought  of  the  prospect 
before  these  affairs  took  place.  '  As  to  the  ultimate  charge  to  be  brought 
against  the  policeman,  the  State  Attorney  was  doubtful  whether  the 
charge  had  not  better  be  one  of  culpable  homicide,  for  the  reason  that 
in  the  presence  of  a  Boer  jury  his  counsel  have  a  much  easier  task  in 
getting  him  off  under  a  charge  of  murder  than  for  culpable  homicide. 
But  the  chances  of  a  Boer  jury  convicting  him  at  all  are  so  small  that 
I  said  I  should  not  assent  to  either  charge  until  I  had  seen  what  re- 
butting evidence  the  Public  Prosecutor  brought.' 

But  this  was  not  all.  Immediately  after  the  murder  of  Edgar,  Mr. 
J.  S.  Dunn,  the  editor  of  the  Critic  newspaper,  recited  the  facts  of  the 
case  as  they  were  known  to  him,  and  passed  some  severe  strictures 
upon  Dr.  Kraiise,  the  First  Public  Prosecutor,  who  was  responsible  for 
determining  the  charge  against  policeman  Jones  and  fixing  his  bail  in 
the  first  instance.  The  steps  now  taken  by  Dr.  Krause  no  doubt  were 
within  his  legal  rights,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  a  layman  calculated 
to  insure  justice  being  done.  Before  proceeding  with  the  murder  trial, 
Dr.  Krause  took  criminal  action  against  Mr.  Dunn  for  libel,  and  in 
order  to  prove  the  libel  he,  whose  duty  it  was  to  prosecute  Jones  for 
murder,  entered  the  witness-box,  and  swore  that,  under  the  circum- 
stances as  know'i.  to  him,  he  did  not  consider  that  Jones  had  been 
guilty  of  murder,  and  had  therefore  faithfully  performed  his  duty  in 
charging  him  with  the  minor  offence  and  releasing  him  on  bail. 
Further,  he  called  upon  the  Second  Public  Prosecutor  to  testify  in  a 
similar  strain  ;  and  finally,  he  directly  and  deliberately  associated  with 
himself  as  witness  on  his  side  the  man  Jones  himself  who  was  charged 
with  the  murder.  All  this  ostensibly  to  prove  a  paltry  libel,  which 
could  have  been  dealt  with  quite  as  effectively,  and  infinitely  more 
properly,  after  the  trial  for  murder  had  taken  place ;  indeed,  it  is 
incontestable  that  the  verdict  in  the  murder  trial  should  properly  have 
been  relied  upon  to  a  large  extent  to  determine  the  gravity  of  Mr. 
Dunn's  offence.  It  had  appeared  to  the  British  population  that  the 
chance  of  an  impartial  trial,  with  the  jury  drawn  exclusively  from  the 
burgher  class,  was  sufficiently  remote  without  any  proceedings  so  ill 
considered  as  these.  The  result  fulfilled  anticipations.  In  due  course 
the  constable  Jones  was  indicted  for  culpable  homicide  and  acquitted ; 
and  the  presiding  judge  (Mr.  Kock,  who,  as  already  described,  had 
claimed  a  judgeship  as  a  *  son  of  the  soil '),  when  discharging  the 
prisoner,  said,  '  With  that  verdict  I  concur,  and  I  hope  that  the  police 
under  difficult  circumstances  will  always  know  how  to  do  their  duty.' 

After  the  preliminary  examination  of  Jones,  the  Acting  British  Agent 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  265 

had  written  to  the  Actmg  High  Commissioner  (December  30,  1898) : 
'  I  will  only  remark  that  the  enclosed  report  .  .  .  seems  to  show  that 
the  Public  Prosecutor  (Krause),  who  has  been  deeply  offended  by  the 
slur  cast  upon  his  judgment  through  the  orders  from  Pretoria  to  keep 
the  accused  in  prison  instead  of  out  on  bail,  was  more  inclined  to 
defend  than  to  prosecute,  and  showed  an  extraordinary  desire  to 
incriminate  either  the  British  Vice- Consul  or  the  South  African  League 
for  what  he  termed  contempt  of  court  in  connection  with  the  publication 
of  certain  affidavits  in  the  Star.' 

That  was  indeed  the  position.  In  this,  as  in  the  Cape  Boys'  case 
(the  Lombaard  inquiry),  the  aim  of  the  prosecution  appeared  to  be  to 
prove  that  the  British  Vice-Consul  had  investigated  and  reported  cases 
of  injustice  suffered  by  British  subjects  ;  and  the  establishment  of  such 
proof  seemed  to  be  considered  a  sufficient  and  triumphant  answer  to 
the  original  complaint.  Such  action  drew  the  following  spirited  protest 
from  Mr.  Emr^'s  Evans  to  the  British  Agent :  '  He  (Krause)  seems 
generally  to  suppose  that  I  have  no  right  to  do  anything  in  the  way  of 
assisting  British  subjects,  and  that  my  action  as  Vice- Consul  is  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  officious  meddling.'  That  well  describes  the  position 
of  Great  Britain's  representative  in  the  Transvaal,  and  it  has  been  the 
same  for  so  many  years  that  among  the  Uitlanders  it  creates  no  feeling 
of  surprise  ;  but  imagine  the  representative  of — let  us  say — the  United 
States  being  so  treated  ! 

While  these  matters  were  proceeding,  an  opportunity  occurred  to 
raise  fresh  funds  for  the  Uitlander  Education  Council.  The  scheme 
had  been  perilously  near  collapse  on  several  occasions,  but  by  a  little 
generous  and  timely  help  actual  abandonment  had  been  averted.  The 
possibility  of  a  return  of  better  times  had  been  foreseen  by  some  of 
those  interested  in  education,  and  the  appeals  which  were  made  in  the 
months  of  February  and  March  resulted  in  raising  a  fimd  of  over 
^100,000.  The  companies  were  also  applied  to  for  assistance  in  the 
form  of  annual  grants  for  maintenance ;  and  guarantees  were  given 
amounting  in  all  to  about  ^£16,000  a  year.  A  final  effort  was  made  by 
the  Government  party  and  the  allies  of  Dr.  Mansvelt,  the  Super- 
intendent of  Education,  to  show  that  the  Government  had  made  ample 
provision  for  the  education  of  English-speaking  children,  and  that  the 
Uitlanders'  scheme  was  unnecessary.  Even  Mr.  Reitz,  the  State 
Secretary,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  undertook  a  pubhc  defence  of  the 
system,  which  he  has  frequently  expressed  his  disapproval  of;  but  the 
more  favourable  construction  which  he  endeavoured  to  place  upon  the 
law  was  immediately  removed  by  a  plain  statement  from  the  President 
to  the  exact  contrary  effect. 

The  Uitlanders  consider  that,  if  the  intentions  of  the  Government 
were  as  good  as  they  desire  them  to  be  thought,  firstly,  they  should 
not  object  to  have  the  conditions  permanently  established  and  not 


266  THE  TRA]N'SVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

leave  them  liable  to  alteration  at  the  sweet  will  of  the  Superintendent, 
as  they  are  to-day ;  and  secondly,  as  there  has  been  nothing  to  hinder 
the  carrying  out  of  benevolent  intentions — had  they  existed — there  is 
no  reason  why  there  should  be  five  or  six  thousand  Uitlander  children 
without  any  facilities  for  education  in  their  own  language  except  such 
as  are  provided  by  private  enterprise  or  charity.  And  this  is  so,  not- 
withstanding the  expenditure  by  the  State  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
million  per  annum,  ostensibly  upon  education,  nine-tenths  of  which 
sum  is  contributed  by  the  Uitlander  population. 

The  spirit  in  which  the  State  aid  is  given,  and  the  aim  which  the 
Government  have  in  view,  are  entirely  revealed  in  the  conditions,  a 
brief  reference  to  which  will  be  sufficient. 

The  Government  capitation  grant  of  £4  per  annum  may  be  earned 
on  the  conditions : 

(a)  That  the  child  be  over  six  years  of  age. 

(6)  That  it  shall  have  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  Dutch  language  and 
South  African  history, 

(c)  That  it  be  not  the  child  of  Dutch  or  Hollander  parents. 

{d)  That  a  qualified  Dutch  teacher  must  be  retained  by  the  school. 

The  first  condition  excludes  all  the  children  of  the  kindergarten 
schools,  and  also  a  class  who  form  a  considerable  percentage  in  the 
elementary  schools.  The  third  condition  excludes  all  those  who  have 
in  early  years  any  chance  of  satisfying  the  inspectors  under  the  second 
condition.  Obviously  the  amount  earned  by  the  few  who  would  satisfy 
all  the  conditions  could  not  possibly  pay  for  the  salary  of  a  Dutch 
teacher.  It  was  an  actual  experience  in  several  schools  that  the 
acceptance  of  State  aid  involved  a  direct  loss  ;  a  good  example  of  the 
'  something  for  nothing  '  policy. 

English  is  permitted  to  be  the  medium  of  instruction  in  Government 
schools  on  the  conditions,  among  others — 

That  Dutch  be  taught  for  one  hour  a  day  during  the  first  year,  two  hours  a 
day  during  the  second  year,  three  hours  a  day  during  the  third  year  ;  and  that 
in  the  foiu-th  year  Dutch  shall  become  the  sole  medium  of  instruction. 

The  characteristic  trickery  and  cunning  which  mark  so  many  of  the 
Boer- Hollander  enactments  are  again  apparent  here.  The  proposal  is 
made  to  appear  reasonable,  but  it  is  clearly  impossible  for  a  child  to 
attain  within  the  time  named  such  proficiency  in  a  foreign  language  as 
to  be  able  to  receive  all  instruction  in  it.  The  eifect  and  the  design  are 
to  place  English-speaking  children  at  a  grave  disadvantage  compared 
with  Dutch-speaking  children;  either  they  would  have  to  devote  a 
great  deal  more  time  to  the  study  of  Dutch  in  the  first  three  years  so 
as  to  be  able  to  receive  all  instruction  in  that  tongue,  or  they  would 
suffer  in  the  higher  standards  through  their  imperfect  knowledge  of 
the  medium  of  instruction.     It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Uit- 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  267 

landers,  after  an  experience  extending  over  a  decade  and  a  half  of  all 
sorts  of  promises,  not  one  of  which  had  been  kept  in  the  spirit  in  which 
it  was  intended  to  be  construed,  would  consent  to  abandon  their  pcheme 
at  the  behest  of  Dr.  Mansvelt  and  the  misguided  few  who  judged  his 
proposals  by  appearances.  President  Kruger,  speaking  at  Rustenburg 
as  lately  as  March  last,  laid  particular  emphasis  upon  the  stipulation 
in  the  Law  that  in  the  fourth  year  Dutch  should  be  the  sole  medium 
of  instruction,  and  explained  that  his  determination  was  to  make  Dutch 
the  dominant  language. 

In  the  month  of  February,  the  Transvaal  Government  received  a 
dispatch  from  Her  Majesty's  Government  with  reference  to  the  dyna- 
mite concession.  It  referred  to  the  announcement  already  recorded, 
that  in  the  course  of  the  coming  session  of  the  Raad  a  proposal  would 
be  submitted  for  the  extension  of  the  monopoly  for  fifteen  years.  Mr. 
Chamberlain  pointed  out  that  Her  Majesty's  Government  were  advised 
that  the  dynamite  monopoly  in  its  present  form  constitutes  a  breach  of 
the  Convention  ;  he  expressed  the  hope  that  the  Transvaal  Government 
might  see  its  way  voluntarily  either  to  cancel  the  monopoly  or  to  so 
amend  it  as  to  make  it  in  the  true  sense  a  State  monopoly  operating 
for  the  benefit  of  the  State ;  and  he  suggested  that  in  any  case  no 
attempt  should  be  made  to  extend  the  present  concession,  as  such  a 
proposal  would  compel  Her  Majesty's  Government  to  take  steps  which 
they  had  hitherto  abstained  from  taking  in  the  hope  and  belief  that  the 
Transvaal  Government  would  itself  deal  satisfactorily  with  the  matter. 
It  was  with  this  despatch,  so  to  say,  in  his  pocket  that  the  President 
introduced  and  endeavoured  to  force  through  the  Raad  the  proposal  to 
grant  a  fifteen  years'  extension  of  the  monopoly. 

That  representations  had  been  made  by  the  British  Government  on 
the  subject  of  che  dynamite  monopoly,  had  been  known  for  some  time 
before  the  Peace  Negotiations  (as  they  have  been  called)  between  the 
Government  and  the  Capitahsts  were  proposed.      On  February  27^ 

^  It  is  stated  that  President  Kruger,  ever  since  the  signing  of  the  London 
Convention  on  MajubaDay — February  27,  1884 — has  believed  in  certain  lucky 
days,  and  has  a  kind  of  superstitious  regard  for  anniversaries.  If  that  be  so, 
the  incidence  of  events  has  given  him  something  to  ponder  over  during  the 
last  three  years.  Three  notable  schemes  conceived  by  himself  and  carefully 
designed  to  strengthen  his  position  have  by  a  curious  coincidence  matured 
upon  dates  of  certain  interest  in  Transvaal  history.  All  three  have  failed 
disastrously.  The  first  anniversary  of  the  Reformers'  sentence  day  was  the 
occasion  of  the  Reformers  giving  evidence  before  the  Industrial  Commission, 
which  so  strongly  justified  their  case.  The  Peace  Negotiations  with  the 
Capitalists  were  opened  by  Mr.  Lippert  upon  the  anniversary  of  Majuba.  The 
Bloemfontein  Conference  was  opened  upon  the  Reformers'  emancipation  day, 
the  expiry  of  the  three  years'  silence.  That  his  Honour  really  attaches  im- 
portance to  these  things  was  shown  when  over  two  hundred  ministers  repre- 
senting the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  the  Transvaal  met  in  Pretoria  to  urge 
upon  him  the  suppression  of  the  Illicit  Liquor  trade.     In  all  innocence  they 


268  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Mr.  Edouard  Lippert,  the  original  dynamite  concessionnaire,  who  it 
was  known  would  receive  the  further  sum  of  jE150,000  if  the  monopoly 
remained  uncancelled  for  five  years,  opened  negotiations  on  behalf  of 
the  Government  with  certain  representatives  of  the  capitalist  groups 
on  the  Eand  ;  and  it  was  immediately  seen  that  the  main — one  might 
almost  say  sole — object  of  the  negotiations  was  to  safeguard  the  dyna- 
mite monopoly.  The  Government  had,  in  fact,  been  placed  in  a  very 
awkward  position.  One  of  the  excuses  for  not  expropriating  the  mono- 
poly had  been  that  the  State  had  not  been  successful  in  raising  a  loan. 
In  order  to  deal  with  this  objection  the  Chamber  of  Mines  had,  in  the 
month  of  February,  1899,  made  an  offer,  guaranteed  by  all  the  principal 
firms  on  the  Rand,  to  provide  the  sum  of  ^6600,000  to  compensate  the 
monopolists  for  their  actual  expenditure  up  to  date  upon  buildings, 
plant,  machinery,  etc.,  so  that  there  should  be  no  semblance  of  injustice 
in  the  treatment  meted  out  to  them.  The  conditions  of  the  offer  were 
that  the  dynamite  monopoly  should  be  cancelled  and  importation  of 
explosives  permitted  under  an  import  duty  which  would  give  the  State 
a  very  large  revenue  at  once,  and  which,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years, 
would  provide  a  sinking  fund  sufficient  to  extinguish  the  loan  of 
i£600,000.  The  offer  was  so  favourable  to  the  State  that  it  placed  the 
Government  in  a  quandary.^  The  attitude  of  the  Volksraad,  too,  was 
distinctly  hostile  to  the  dynamite  monopoly  ;  and  on  top  of  aU  came 
the  representations  of  the  Imperial  Government  upon  the  subject.  It 
became  necessary  to  do  something  to  save  the  threatened  '  corner- 
stone ' ;  hence  the  Peace  negotiations  between  the  Government  and 
the  capitalists. 

This  was  another  and  one  of  the  clearest  examples  of  the  '  something 
for  nothing '  policy,  for  it  will  be  observed  that  of  all  the  things 
mentioned  dynamite  alone  was  the  matter  to  be  definitely  settled — and 
that  to  the  satisfaction  of  Mr.  Kruger.  Long  years  of  experience  had 
taught  the  Uitlanders  to  examine  any  proposals  coming  from  the 
Government  with  the  utmost  care  ;  and  the  representatives  of  the 
mining  industry  were  soon  of  one  mind  in  regarding  these  negotiations 
as  nothing  but  a  trap. 

Of  the  five  men  who  represented  the  Government — viz.,  the  President, 

had  chosen  May  24  on  which  to  present  their  address.  Their  astonishment 
was  great  when  Mr.  Kruger,  passing  lightly  by  the  liquor  question,  gave  the 
assembled  pastors  a  thorough  wigging  for  finding  fault  with  his  administra- 
tion at  all,  but  chiefly  for  their  unpatriotic  conduct  in  selecting  the  Queen's 
Birthday  of  all  days  on  which  to  expose  internal  difFerences  in  their  country. 
^  In  addressing  a  meeting  of  burghers  in  Heidelburg  three  months  later,  the 
President  showed  to  what  lengths  he  was  prepared  to  go  in  defending  the 
monopoly  when,  in  reply  to  a  question,  he  denied  that  any  such  offer  had 
been  received  '  by  the  Executive. '  The  explanation,  which  he  did  not  give,  is 
that  the  Government,  i.e. ,  the  President  and  State  Secretary,  had  received  it 
— and  withheld  it  from  the  Executive  1 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  269 

the  State  Secretary  (Mr.  Eeitz),  the  State  Attorney  (Mr.  Smuts),  the 
Foreign  Plenipotentiary  (Dr.  Leyds),  and  the  *  disinterested  inter- 
mediary,' Mr.  Lippert — it  was  easy  enough  to  account  for  three.  The 
President  had  frequently  pledged  himself  to  maintain  the  monopoly, 
and  always  referred  to  it  as  the  corner-stone  of  the  independence. 
Dr.  Leyds  had  chosen  to  associate  himself  with  the  defence  of  the 
concessionnaires  upon  all  occasions,  and  had  even  gone  so  far,  as  evidence 
given  at  the  Industrial  Commission  showed,  as  to  misrepresent  the 
facts  in  their  defence.  The  difficulty  was  how  to  explain  the  associa- 
tion of  the  State  Attorney  and  State  Secretary,  in  whose  good  intentions 
and  integrity  there  was  a  general  behef .  The  solution  was  to  be  found 
in  the  illusory  promises  of  reform  under  the  heading  of  franchise  and 
reorganization  of  the  finances  and  other  matters.  These  proposals^ 
it  was  believed  by  Mr.  Kruger  and  his  party,  would  secure  the  support 
of  the  two  above-named  officials,  as  well  as  entice  the  capitalists  into 
the  trap  set  for  them.  But  there  were  other  points  of  advantage  for 
Mr.  I\j:uger.  The  whole  scheme  was  in  accordance  with  the  divide  et 
impera  poHcy.  The  first  impression,  if  the  scheme  were  accepted^ 
would  be  that  the  capitalists  had  secured  something  for  themselves  bj^ 
Gartering  away  the  rights  of  the  public  ;  so  there  would  have  been  a 
division  in  Johannesburg.  Another  effect  to  be  brought  about  by  the 
proposed  action  regarding  the  Indians  would  have  been  to  divide  the 
Uitlanders  from  the  Imperial  Government,  and  the  net  result  of  it  all 
would  have  been  that  neither  the  public  nor  the  capitalists  would  have 
got  anything  but  illusory  promises,  and  Mr.  Kruger  would  have  secured 
his  dynamite  ;  for  had  he  been  able  to  extract  from  the  Industry  an 
expression  of  approval  or  acquiescence,  it  would  have  given  him  his 
majority  in  the  Volksraad  in  favour  of  the  monopoly. 
The  following  is  the  correspondence  which  passed  : 

Johannesburg,  S.A.R., 

11th  March,  1889. 
To  the  Honourable  the  State  Secretary ^ 
Pretoria. 

Honourable  Sir, 

Before  commuincating  to  you  and  the  representatives  of  the  Govern- 
ment whom  we  met  the  expression  of  oiir  opinion,  and  that  of  our  London 
friends,  on  the  proposals  submitted  to  us  by  Mr.  Lippert  on  behalf  of  the 
Government  of  the  S.  A.R.,  we  deem  it  advisable  to  recite  shortly  how  we  have 
arrived  at  the  present  position. 

On  the  27th  of  February  Mr.  E.  Lippert  called  together  Messrs.  A.  Brakhan, 
E.  Birkenruth,  and  G.  Kouliot,  to  whom  he  submitted  a  certain  programme 
concerning  the  settlement  of  some  pending  questions  forming  the  subject  of 
grave  differences  between  the  Government  of  the  S.  A.R.,  on  the  one  part,  and 
the  whole  Uitlander  population  and  the  mining  industry  on  the  other  part, 
with  a  view  to  ascertain  whether  these  gentlemen  were  willing  to  open  negotia- 
tions on  the  basis  suggested,  in  order  to  try  to  come  to  a  settlement.  Upon 
the  affirmative  answer  of  these  gentlemen,  Mr.  Lippert  obtained  an  equal 


270  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

expression  of  approval  from  Dr.  Leyds,  the  State  Secretary,  the  State 
Attorney,  and  also  of  President  Kruger.  The  preliminary  programme,  at 
Mr.  Lippert's  request,  was  then  communicated  by  cable  to  our  London 
friends.  Upon  receipt  of  a  reply  to  the  elfect  that  our  London  friends  were 
in  favour  of  any  anangement  which  would  produce  harmony  and  secure 
administrative  and  financial  reform,  which  was  communicated  to  Mr.  E.  Lip- 
pert,  a  meeting  was  arranged  with  Dr.  Leyds,  Messrs.  Reitz,  Smuts,  and 
Lippert,  as  representing  the  Government,  on  the  9th  of  March  ;  but  as 
Messrs.  Braklian,  Birkenruth,  and  Rouliot  had  repeatedly  mentioned  that 
they  did  not  consider  themselves  qualified  to  discuss  matters  on  behalf  of  the 
general  body  of  Uitlanders,  and  seeing  that  the  programme  to  be  submitted 
was  to  be  considered  as  a  whole,  and  either  adopted  or  rejected  as  such,  there- 
fore it  would  bo  necessary  to  obtain  the  views  on  the  franchise  question  of 
prominent  citizens  more  able  to  express  the  wishes  of  Uitlanders  on  this  sub- 
ject, Mr.  Lippert,  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  invited  in  addition  Messrs. 
Pierce  and  Pistorious  to  be  present  at  the  meeting. 

At  this  meeting  several  points  were  discussed,  but  as  no  definite  proposal 
regarding  franchise  could  be  submitted,  no  decision  was  arrived  at,  it  being 
made  clear,  however,  that  this  was  only  a  preliminary  conversation  with  the 
object  of  exclianging  views,  and  that  in  any  case  the  opinion  of  the  Uitlander 
population,  and  also  that  of  our  friends  in  Europe,  would  have  to  be  fully 
ascertained. 

On  the  12th  instant,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Lippert,  Messrs.  Brakhan, 
Birkenruth,  Rouliot,  Pierce,  Pistorious,  and  Fitzpatrick  met,  and  Mr.  Lippert 
communicated  to  us  the  definite  proposals  of  the  S.A.R.  Government,  which 
were  duly  cabled  the  same  day  to  our  friends,  requesting  a  reply  before  the 
end  of  the  week,  as  the  Government  would  have  to  submit  the  whole  matter 
to  the  Raad,  and  we  were  requested  to  sign  an  agreement  with  the  Govern- 
ment, and  a  declaration  binding  on  ourselves  and  our  London  friends. 

Their  answer,  suggesting  a  further  conference  with  Dr.  Leyds  in  London, 
was  duly  communicated  to  his  Honour  the  State  President.  His  Honour's 
reply,  stating  that  the  exchange  of  views  had  better  take  place  here,  was 
communicated  to  our  European  friends. 

Now,  they  have  cabled  us  a  full  precis  of  the  proceedings  and  resolutions 
passed  at  the  meeting  held  in  London  on  the  16th  instant,  and  the  following 
is,  therefore,  the  expression  of  our  opinion,  as  well  as  that  of  our  European 
friends,  upon  the  subjects  which  have  already  been  discussed  between  the 
representatives  of  the  S.A.R.  Government  and  ourselves. 

It  having  been  stipixlated  by  the  Government  that  the  various  matters 
herein  dealt  with  shall  be  taken  as  parts  of  one  whole  plan,  we  have  boAved  to 
that  decision,  and  we  beg  now  to  reply  under  the  various  heads  on  the  under- 
standing that  no  one  portion  may  be  judged  as  apart  from  the  whole. 

BEWAARPIAATSEN. 

In  furtherance  of  the  general  settlement,  those  of  us  directly  concerned  in 
the  mining  industry  would  be  prepared  to  recommend  a  modification  of  the 
claims  of  the  surface  holder  and  a  final  settlement  of  the  question  on  the  lines 
suggested  as  preferable  to  the  continued  uncertainty,  on  the  understanding 
that  the  basis  for  valuation  should  be  arrived  at  by  fixing,  after  consultation, 
a  maximum  price  upon  the  best-situated  bewaarplaatsen,  or  water-riglit,  and 
that  the  price  of  all  other  mining  rights  under  bewaarplaatsen,  machine 
stands  or  water-rights  be  valued  by  competent  engineers  on  the  basis  and  in 
relation  to  the  above  maximum  value,  taking  into  consideration  the  compara- 
tive value  of  the  outcrop  claims  and  the  diminishing  value  in  depth  ;  the 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  271 

surface  holder  having  the  preferent  right  to  acquire  the  undermining  right 
at  the  prices  thus  arrived  at. 

FINANCIER  AND  AUDITOR. 

The  appointment  of  a  suitable  man^dth  efficient  control  and  assured  status 
would  undoubtedly  meet  one  of  the  most  serious  of  the  grievances,  and  would 
be  universally  accepted  as  satisfactory.  The  financier,  in  order  to  enjoy  the 
confidence  of  all  concerned,  and  Avith  a  view  to  avoid  as  far  as  possible 
ulterior  discussion  of  his  recommendations,  should  be  approved  by  some 
person  belonging  to  a  firm  of  well-known  independent  standing,  such  as  Lord 
Rothschild,  for  instance.  The  financier  to  be  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Council,  and  to  formulate  and  approve  every  scheme  of  taxation  should  further 
or  other  taxation  become  necessary. 


Any  loan  off"ered  at  reasonable  rates  and  approved  by  the  Finance  Minister 
for  the  common  good  would  undoubtedly  receive  our  su])port ;  we  understand- 
ing, on  the  other  hand,  that  no  new  taxation  will  be  imposed  on  the  general 
population  or  the  mining  industry  pending  the  appointment  of  the  financier. 

PRESS   AGITATION. 

There  having  been,  as  far  as  we  know,  no  organized  press  agitation,  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  deal  with  this  matter  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  the  criticism 
which  has  been  provoked  by  a  certain  condition  of  affairs  here  would  neces- 
sarily cease  upon  the  causes  of  complaint  being  removed,  and  we  would  be 
prepared,  in  case  of  our  coming  to  a  settlement  with  the  Government,  to 
declare  that  the  solution  of  the  questions  arrived  at  meets  with  our  approval 
as  a  whole,  so  as  to  discourage  further  agitation  in  newspapers  on  these 
subjects. 

POLITICAL   ORGANIZATIONS. 

We  shall  at  all  times  be  willing  to  publicly  discourage  and  repudiate  any 
politicarorganization  having  for  its  object  the  stirring  up  of  striie  or  pro- 
moting dissension  between  the  different  nationaiities  inhabiting  this  State, 
and  we  would,  and  will,  in  any  case  do  this  freely  and  upon  principle,  and 
entirely  apart  from  other  considerations  connected  with  this  Conference,  but 
it  should  be  clearly  understood  that  this  declaration  must  not  be  construed 
as  repudiating  or  deprecating  any  legitimate  represeutations  which  the  com- 
munity or  any  section  of  them  may  see  fit  to  make  in  matters  which  con- 
cern them  as  inhabitants  of  this  State, 

COOLIE   QUESTION. 

We  well  appreciate  the  dangers  of  uncontrolled,  indiscriminate  immigration 
of  the  lower  class  Indians,  Chinese,  and  other  coloured  races,  and  the  neces- 
sity for  provision  for  sanitary  control,  and  shall  be  most  willing  to  aid  the 
Government  in  the  above  objects  ;  but  we  consider  it  impossible  for  us  to 
intervene  in  this  matter,  which  is  governed  by  the  London  Convention  with 
the  British  Government.  We  suggest  that  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  against 
the  dangers  above  referred  to  this  matter  be  explained  to  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment as  part  of  the  whole  scheme  for  the  settlement  of  differences,  and  claim, 
therefore,  an  especially  favourable  consideration,  for,  in  the  success  of  this 
scheme,  all  who  desire  peace  and  prosperity  in  this  country  must  be  deeply 


272  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

concerned  and  willing  to  co-operate  on  generous  lines.  We  suggest  that  this 
representation  be  made  in  such  manner  as  may  be  deemed  less  calculated  to 
provoke  unfavourable  comment,  or  offend  susceptibilities  in  any  quarter,  and 
that  the  suggestion  be  viewed  by  all  parties  in  its  true  proportions  as  one 
part  of  the  whole  scheme  of  settlement.  Unless  so  viewed  we  should  be 
unable  to  put  ourselves  forward  in  a  matter  at  issue  between  the  two  Govern- 
ments,, nor,  of  course,  could  the  proposals  of  the  Government  be  taken  to 
suggest  this. 

DYNAMITE. 

With  the  principle  of  granting  a  monopoly  to  individuals,  agencies,  or 
corporations,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  agree,  and  whatever  arrangement  be 
effected,  we  should  have  to  make  it  clear  that  in  this  instance  we  are  viewing 
the  question  solely  as  a  burden — a  tax  which  the  mines  are  asked  to  definitely 
accept  in  order  that  an  amelioration  of  the  general  conditions  affecting  the 
whole  Uitlander  population  may  be  secured. 

The  difference  between  the  cost  at  which  dynamite  could  be  imported 
(exclusive  of  Transvaal  duty)  and  the  price  we  are  now  compelled  to  pay 
amounts  to  over  £600,000  per  annum  on  the  present  rate  of  consumption,  a 
sum  which  will  increase  steadily  and  largely  in  the  immediate  future. 

Whether  the  mining  industry  should  voluntarily  accept  such  an  immense 
burden  as  a  set-off  against  terms  which,  whilst  they  Avould  doiibtless  eventually 
favourably  affect  the  industry,  are  in  their  immediate  effects  designed  to 
satisfy  the  Uitlander  population  in  their  personal  rights  as  distinct  from  the 
mining  industry  as  a  business,  is  a  matter  which  would  in  the  first  place  have 
to  be  submitted  to  the  recognised  elected  representatives  of  the  mining 
industry,  and  would,  in  the  second  place,  depend  upon  whether  the  people  in 
whose  interest  such  sacrifice  is  required  would  accept  the  terms  which  the 
Government  would  be  willing  to  concede  as  satisfying  their  reasonable  aspira- 
tions. 

It  is  also  a  matter  of  grave  and  general  concern  that  a  sum  so  enormous, 
when  compared  with  the  revenue  requirements  of  the  State,  should  be  taken 
annually  from  the  mines  with  little,  if  any,  benefit  to  the  country,  when  it 
might  be  utilized  in  part  or  entirely  in  supplementing  the  State  revenue,  and 
thus  afford  relief  in  other  directions  to  every  taxpayer  in  the  country. 

Notwithstanding  the  above  considerations,  however,  we  feel  that  a  great 
monetary  sacrifice  might  be  made  to  secure  a  peaceful  and  permanent  solution 
of  vexed  questions,  and  that  the  subject  of  dynamite  should  be  submitted  to 
the  Chamber  of  Mines,  and  discussed  in  that  spirit. 

Whilst  we  are  willing,  in  order  to  bring  about  a  general  settlement  of  all 
pending  questions,  to  recommend  such  a  heavy  sacrifice  to  be  made,  and 
adopt  the  proposal  made  by  the  Government,  it  would  be  a  condition  that 
there  shall  not  be  any  extension  of  the  concession,  and  that  the  terms  of  the 
contract  shall  be  rigidly  enforced  ;  that  the  Dynamite  Company  shall  reduce 
the  price  of  dynamite  to  70s.  per  case,  giving  to  the  Government  the  5s.  per 
case  and  the  share  of  the  profits  to  which  it  is  entitled  ;  and  that  at  the  end 
of  the  present  agency  the  factory  shall  be  taken  over  at  a  valuation  which 
shall  not  include  compensation  for  goodwill  or  for  loss  of  future  business. 

FBAKCIIISE. 

This  is  the  vital  point  upon  which  a  permanent  and  peaceful  settlement 
must  hinge,  and  if  a  satisfactory  solution  can  be  arrived  at  on  this  point,  as 
well  as  on  the  others  raised,  we  shall  be  prepared  to  recommend  to  the 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  273 

Industry  to  make  the  sacrifices  involved  in  accepting  the  Government  pro- 
posals. 

We  note  that — 

(a)  the  proposals  do  not  include  a  substantial  recognition  of  past  resi- 
dence ; 

{b)  that  the  period  is  seven  years  ; 

(c)  that  it  is  proposed  that  those  who  acquire  citizenship  under  the  law, 
if  changed  as  proposed,  shall  not  have  the  vote  for  the  office  of 
President,  and  tliat  the  oath  of  allegiance  would  be  required  seven 
years  before  the  acquisition  of  limited  burgher  rights  ; 

(i)  that  the  proposed  new  law  would  have  to  be  published  for  a  year 
and  receive  the  assent  of  two-thirds  of  the  enfranchised  burghers  of 
the  Republic. 

Whilst  declaring  ourselves  willing  to  accept  and  recommend  the  acceptance 
of  any  fair  scheme  on  constitutional  reforms,  we  consider  that  such  a  scheme 
must  lirst  be  laid  before,  and  approved  by,  the  unenfranchised  community,  as 
the  rights,  liberties,  and  pi'ivileges  of  the  community  would  depend  absolutely 
on  the  nature  of  the  reform. 

We  have  repeated  on  many  occasions  that  business  houses  are  not  qualified 
to  discuss  this  question  on  behalf  of  the  general  body  of  Uitlanders,  and  that 
we  would  not  presume  that  Ave  were  appointed  by  the  whole  community  to 
discuss  it  on  their  behalf.  It  will,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  find  means  to 
bring  the  whole  question  before  those  directly  affected,  who  are  the  only  ones 
entitled  to  finally  dispone  of  the  matter,  their  acquiescence  to  the  scheme 
having  to  be  first  obtained  before  we  recommend  the  sacrifices  which  we  con- 
template in  order  to  insure  a  general  permanent  and  peaceful  settlement. 

For  your  guidance  we  enclose  an  expression  of  opinion  which  has  been  fur- 
nished to  us  by  some  of  the  most  prominent  Uitlanders,  and  places  before  you 
the  views  of  a  very  large  and  influential  section  of  •Axe  community. 

The  above  subjects  are  only  those  which  have  been  discussed  between  the 
Government  representatives  and  ourselves,  but,  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  final 
permanent  settlement,  we  think  that  we  ought  to  endeavour  to  remove  all 
other  causes  of  disagreement,  and  treat  as  well  several  other  important  ques- 
tions left  untouched  ;  and  we  would  beg  that  the  Government  will  take  the 
necessary  steps,  as  far  as  lies  in  their  power,  to  assist  the  Industry  by  bringing 
native  labourers  to  the  goldfields,  and  to  this  end  will  be  willing  to  confer 
with  the  Chamber  of  Mines  as  to  the  best  means  to  be  adopted  ;  that  the  law 
relating  to  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor  at  present  in  force  shall  be  main- 
tained and  strictly  enforced.  We  may  further  state  that  we  have  every  con- 
fidence in  the  probity  and  honour  of  the  Judges  of  the  S.  A.  R. ,  and  wish  to 
place  on  record  our  desire  that  the  independence  of  the  Bench  should  bo 
assured  and  maintained  inviolate  in  the  highest  interests  of  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Republic. 

We  enclose  copy  of  the  cable  which  we  sent,  embodying  the  proposals  of 
the  Government  of  the  S.A.R.  as  communicated  to  us  by  Mr.  Lippert,  and 
copy  of  the  pricis  and  resolution  passed  at  the  meeting  held  in  London,  when 
the  above  cable  was  considered. 

This  letter  conveys  to  you  our  opinion  as  well  as  that  of  our  friends  in 
Europe,  and  we  should  be  most  happy  to  arrange  a  meeting  with  you  and  any 
other  representatives  of  the  Government  to  consider  and  discuss  the  points 
contained  therein. 

We  beg  to  assure  you  once  more  that  we,  as  well  as  our  European  friends, 
are  most  sincerely  desirous  to  arriva  at  a  satisfactory  settlement,  securing  a 

18 


274  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

peaceful  future  and  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  country  and  the  people,  and 
trust  that  you  will  regard  the  expression  of  our  opinion  in  that  light. 
We  remain,  honourable  Sir, 

Yours  obediently, 

G.  ROULIOT. 

H.  F.  E.  PiSTORius. 

E.  BiRKENRUTH. 

John  M.  Pierce. 
A.  Brakhan. 

The  foregoing  embodies  our  views  as  well  as  that  of  our  London  houses. 

(Signed)        J.  G.  Hamilton. 
W.  Dalrymple. 

The  following  memorandum — the  one  referred  to  in  the  above  letter 
— was  prepared  by  well-known  Uitlanders  whom  the  Government, 
owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  capitalists  to  deal  with  the  franchise,  had 
been  obliged  to  select  in  order  to  get  some  pronouncement  upon  that 
question.  The  little  ironies  of  life  have  two  properties — the  humour 
for  the  winner,  and  the  hurt  for  the  worsted.  The  Uitlanders  had  for 
three  years  enjoyed  a  singularly  monotonous  experience  in  ironies,  but 
a  turning  came  in  the  long  lane  when  it  became  necessary  for  the 
President  to  suspend  the  operation  of  his  three  years'  ban  on  two  of 
the  Reformers  in  order  to  get  their  advice  upon  the  franchise  question. 

Johannesburg,  S.A.R., 

lith  March,  1899. 
Gentlemen, 

In  response  to  the  invitation  from  the  Government  of  the  South  African 
Republic  conveyed  to  us  by  Mr.  E.  Lippert,  we  beg  to  submit  the  enclosed 
memorandum  upon  the  franchise  question. 

Yours  faithfully, 

J.  Percy  FitzPatrick. 
H.  C.  Hull. 
W.  Dalrymple. 
W.  A.  Martin. 
Thos.  Mackenzie. 
R.  Store. 
J.  G.  Hamilton. 
To  Messrs.  G.  Bouliot,  T.  J.  Britten. 

JE.  Birkenruth,  H.  R.  Skinner. 

A.  Brakhan, 
J.  M.  Pierce, 
H.  F.  E.  Pistorius, 

Johannesburg. 

MEMORANDUM  BE  FRANCHISE. 

After  such  investigation  as  the  restrictions  imposed  have  permitted,  we  are 
of  opinion  that  it  would  be  quite  useless  to  approach  the  Uitlander  population 
witli  the  Government  proposal  in  its  present  form,  chiefly  for  the  following 
reasons : 

1 .  No  consideration  is  given  to  the  term  of  residence  already  completed. 

2.  The  alteration  of  the  franchise  law  according  to  lately  prescribed  pro- 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  275 

cedure,  whereby  two-thirds  of  the  burghers  must  signify  approval,  is 
a  practical  impossibility — witness  the  fact  that  at  the  last  Presidential 
election,  surpassing  in  excitement  and  interest  all  other  occasions  of 
general  voting,  with  the  three  recognised  leaders  in  the  held,  and 
every  agency  at  work  to  stimulate  activity,  less  than  two-thirds  of  the 
burghers  on  the  register  recorded  their  votes. 

3.  The  present  form  of  oatli  would  be  regarded  as  humiliating  and  unneces- 

sary, in  support  of  which  view  we  instance  that  quite  recently  the 
Volksraad  of  the  Orange  Free  State  rejected  upon  the  same  grounds 
the  proposed  introduction  of  the  same  oath  of  allegiance. 

4.  The  period  of  disqualification,  during  which  the  Uitlander  would  have 

given  up  his  own  citizenship  by  naturalizing  and  have  acquired 
nothing  in  return,  would  be  found  must  objectionable — especially 
with  the  experience  that  rights  have  in  the  past  been  legislated  away 
as  they  were  on  the  point  of  maturitig. 

5.  In  view  of  the   unique  conditiona   of  the  country,  extension  of  the 

.  franchise  without  some  approach  to  equitable  redistribution  of  repre- 
sentatives would  be  regarded  as  no  solution  of  the  question,  and 
might  even  provoke  doiibts  as  to  the  bond  fides  of  the  proposal,  which 
would  be  a  deplorable  beginning,  yet  one  easily  to  be  avoided. 

Regai'd  being  had  to  the  points  raised  in  paragraphs  1,  2,  3,  4,  we  consider 
that  as  restrictive  franchise  legislation,  apparently  designed  to  exclude  for 
ever  the  great  bulk  of  the  Uitlander  population,  dates  its  beginning  from  the 
Session  of  1890,  and  as  the  various  enactments  beai  iug  upon  this  question 
have  been  passed  by  successive  Volksraads  exercising  their  power  to  alter,  add 
to,  or  revoke,  previous  enactments,  and  as  the  same  powers  are  to  the  full 
enjoyed  by  the  present  Volksraad,  it  would  be  both  possible  and  proper  for 
the  present  Volksraad  to  animl  ail  the  legislation  upon  this  subject  Iroui  that 
date,  and  to  restore  and  confirm  the  status  prior  to  1890,  and  thus  satisfy  the 
indisputable  claims  of  those  who  settled  in  this  country  under  certain  con- 
ditions from  the  benefits  of  which  they  could  not  properly  be  excluded. 

With  regard  to  paragraph  5,  a  moderate  proposal  designed  to  give  a  more 
equitable  distribution  of  representatives  in  the  Volksraad  would  be  necessary. 

The  above  suggestions  are  not  put  forward  as  the  irreducible  mininuim,  nor 
are  they  designed  for  public  use,  nor  intended  as  a  proposal  acceptable  to  the 
eye  but  impossible  in  fact,  and  thus  sure  of  rejection.  They  are  put  forward 
in  good  faith  as  indicating  in  our  opinion  the  lines  ui>on  which  it  would  be 
possible  to  work  towards  a  settlement  with  a  reasonable  prospect  of  success. 

If  the  difliculties  appear  great,  the  more  reason  there  is  not  to  put  forward 
an  unalterable  proposal  foredoomed  to  failure,  but  rather  to  try  and  find 
points  of  agreement  which,  however  few  and  small  to  begin  with,  would 
surely  make  for  eventual  and  complete  settlement.  In  any  case,  it  is  clear 
that  the  mere  fact  of  a  proposal  to  extend  the  franchise  having  been  made  by 
the  Government,  tlius  frankly  recognising  the  need  to  deal  with  the  subject, 
will  be  hailed  as  a  good  omen  and  a  good  beginning  by  all  fair-minded  men. 

The  determination  of  the  negotiators  to  have  the  position  clearly 
stated  in  writing,  and  their  fear  that  the  use  of  intermediaries  would 
end  in  the  usual  unhappy  and  unpleasant  result— namely,  repudiation 
of  the  intermediary  in  part  or  entirely — were  not  long  wanting  justifica 
tion.     The  following  is  a  translation  of  Mr.  F.  W.  ltciL//s  reply : 


18—2 


276  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Pretoria,  8th  April,  1899. 

Messrs.  G.  Eouliot,  E.  F.  E.  Pistorius,  A.  Brakhan,  E.  Birkenruth,  and 
John  M.  Pierce,  Johannesburg. 

Dear  Sirs, 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  letter  dated 
27th  March  last,  referring  to  certain  proposals  to  the  Government  from 
representatives  of  the  mining  industry. 

In  order  to  understand  the  natural  position,  it  is  necessary  to  state  the  facts 
more  extensively  than  given  in  your  letter. 

It  is  wrong  to  say,  as  you  do  in  the  first  paragraph  of  your  communication, 
that  Mr.  Lippert  came  to  you  with  certain  proposals  from  the  Government. 

It  appears  also  from  the  second  paragra])h  of  the  same  that  Mr.  Lippert 
came  to  you  sua  7notu,  with  the  object,  as  ho  informed  me  afterwards,  to  see 
'  if  it  was  not  possible  to  obtain  a  better  understanding  between  the  Govern- 
ment on  the  one  side  and  the  mining  industry  on  the  other.'  He  acted  in  no 
wise  as  the  agent  of  the  Government,  or  in  the  name  of  the  Government,  to 
make  any  proposals  to  you,  but  only  as  a  friendly  mediator  to  see  how  far 
uu necessary  dilferences  and  misunderstandings  could  be  removed. 

When  Mr.  Lippert  came  to  Dr,  Leyds  and  myself,  and  informed  us  that  you 
and  other  gentlemen  were  agreeable  to  his  mediation,  we  at  once  agreed  with 
his  plan,  being  aware  that  there  was  a  warm  desire  and  continued  struggle  on 
the  part  of  this  Government  to  remove  out  of  the  way  all  friction  and  trouble, 
and  that  in  this  case  especially  it  was  our  object  to  leave  no  stone  unturned 
to  get  all  difl'erences  settled.  We  were  the  more  anxious  to  meet  you  because 
his  Honour  the  State  I'resident  had  decided  to  lay  before  the  Volksraad 
certain  proposals  of  law,  which  are  of  great  importance  not  only  for  the  people 
of  the  Republic,  but  especially  for  the  mining  population  and  industry.  We 
gave  Mr.  Lippert  to  understand  that  should  the  leaders  of  the  mining  industry 
have  no  objection  to  his  mediation,  we  would  not  be  unwilling  to  make  use  of 
his  good  services  in  this  matter. 

Mr,  Lijipert  then  went  to  Johannesburg,  and  returned  to  us  with  the 
assurance  that  there  was  no  objection  to  his  acting  as  mediator,  and  gave  us 
so-'nc  of  the  subjects  on  which  it  appeared  to  liim  that  it  was  possible  to  arrive 
at  a  friendly  understanding. 

In  consequence  of  this,  and  acting  on  our  own  initiative,  and  not  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Government,  Dr.  Leyds,  Mr.  Smuts,  and  myself,  met  some 
of  your  leading  men,  as  set  forth  in  your  letter. 

At  this  meeting  we  informed  you  of  the  intention  of  the  President  to  alter 
certain  laws  for  the  general  good.  Only  with  reference  to  the  franchise  we 
gave  you  no  definite  proposal,  the  matter  being  then  still  under  consideration. 
From  your  side  we  requested  only  a  more  friendly  attitude  from  the  press,  as 
we  were  convinced  that  the  excessive  press  campaign  carried  on  by  the  news- 
papers, which  are  generally  considered  to  be  owned  by  you,  or  influenced  by 
you,  however  much  they  may  forward  certain  interests,  still,  in  the  end,  did 
infinite  harm  to  the  existing  interests  of  all  sections  of  the  poimlation. 
Through  the  continual  and  incessant  agitation  and  creation  of  suspicion  on 
the  part  of  the  papers,  the  public  mind  was  constantly  in  a  state  of  insecurity, 
and  the  fanning  of  the  race  hatred  made  it  impossible  for  the  Government,  as 
well  as  the  Legislature,  to  improve  the  relations  between  the  so-called  Uit- 
landers  and  the  old  population. 

We  requested  your  friendly  assistance  also  in  the  settlement  of  the  coolie 
question,  not  because  we  wanted  to  cause  friction  between  you  and  other 
foreign  Governments,  but  only  because  the  policy  which  refers  to  the  native 
and  coloured  questions  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  South  Africa. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  277 

Mr.  Lippert  had  in  his  programme  the  granting  of  a  j)roniisc  on  your  side 
that  you  would  support  the  Government  in  the  obtainini^  of  a  loan  which  the 
Government  may  deem  necessary,  and  that  you  should  bind  yourselves  in 
writing  to  abstain  from  all  political  organizations  inimical  to  the  Govern- 
ment. 

These  matters  we  did  not  discuss,  as  we  considered  them  unnecessary  and 
inadvisable.  From  your  side  you  deemed  it  necessary,  before  answering  us, 
first  to  receive  the  instructions  of  your  foreign  principals.  Before  you  could 
give  us  the  result  the  President  explained  his  intentions  at  Heidelberg,  and 
afterwards  at  Rustenburg  and  Johannesburg. 

Your  letter,  now  under  consideration,  contains  practically  a  definite  answer 
to  our  communication  to  you.  I  shall  now  consider  the  points  of  your  answer 
separately. 

BEWAARPLAATSEN. 

With  reference  to  this  matter,  we  think  that  the  undermining  rights  under 
bewaarplaatsen,  machine  stands,  and  water-rights  should  be  valued  on  a 
reasonable  basis,  independently  by  the  Government,  and  by  the  owner  of  the 
surface  rights  (should  there  be  a  difference  which  cannot  be  settled  amicably, 
then  the  value  can  be  fixed  by  arbitration),  and  that  the  surface  owner  shall 
have  the  preferent  right  to  purchase  the  affected  under-mining  right  at  such 
a  valuation.  From  your  communication  I  understand  that  you  suggest  a 
special  method  of  valuation.  This  is  a  detail  which  can  be  settled  when  the 
valuation  is  actually  commenced,  and  which  experts  are  better  able  to  judge 
over  than  I  am.     Therefore  I  shall  say  no  more  on  this  subject. 

FINANCIER   AND   AUDITOR. 

On  this  subject  our  opinion  was  that  the  auditor  should  be  independent  of 
the  Government,  and  alone  responsible  to  the  Volksraad  to  appoint  as  financier 
a  man  of  standing,  with  a  seat  in  the  Executive  Council,  to  advise  on  all 
matters  affecting  finances. 

I  am  glad  to  see  that  you  are  with  us,  and  that  it  gives  you  great  satis- 
faction. I  must  express  my  surprise,  however,  over  your  proposal  that 
previous  to  the  appointment  this  Government  must  first  get  the  approval  of 
Lord  Rothschild  or  any  other  capitalist.  I  can  only  answer  that  it  is  in  no 
wise  the  intention  of  the  Government  to  frame  the  future  financial  policy  of 
this  State  on  a  capitalistic  basis,  and  thus  your  request  cannot  be  agreed  to. 
It  is  quite  possible  to  make  such  an  appointment  which  \vill  carry  general 
approval  without  being  subjected  to  such  a  mutual  condition. 
• 

LOAN,    PRESS   AGITATION,    POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION. 

With  reference  to  these  matters,  I  have  already  made  it  plain  to  you  that 
in  following  the  proposals  of  Mr.  Lippert  by  cabling  to  your  principals,  you 
acted  under  a  misunderstanding.  We  requested  no  binding  declaration  from 
you,  only  a  moral  understanding,  which  would  be  easy  for  you  to  maintain,  if 
it  was  in  the  interests  of  the  Uitlanders  as  well  as  the  burghers  of  the  Re- 
public. I  regret  that  the  mistake  has  arisen,  otherwise  I  cannot  see  that  any 
objection  can  come  from  your  side  to  apiuove  of  the  plans  of  the  President. 

DYNAMITE. 

On  this  question  there  is  a  small  difference  between  the  proposed  policy  of 
the  President  and  your  answer. 

I  only  wish  to  add  that  his  Honour  goes  further  than  you  do,  as  he  has 
declared  his  readiness  to  expropriate  the  Dynamite  Company,  under  agree- 
ment with  its  representatives,  as  soon  as  possible.     If  the  expropriation  takes 


278  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

place  after  the  expiration  of  the  present  concession,  then  it  will  naturally  not 
be  on  the  basis  of  a  going  concern. 


FRANCHISE. 

On  this  subject  I  can  well  understand  that  you  do  not  wish  to  take  upon 
your  shoulders  the  responsibility  of  speaking  and  acting  for  the  whole  of  the 
new  population.  It  was  more  your  personal  opinions  as  men  of  position  that 
we  wished  to  know.  Then  again,  according  to  your  assurance  at  the  afore- 
mentioned meeting,  you  do  not  take  an}''  personal  interest  in  the  franchise 
question,  and  that  you  would  rather  leave  the  question  to  the  public ;  your 
answer  is  therefore  perfectly  fair.  His  Honour  has  therefore  already  acted  in 
accordance  with  your  idea,  for  he  has  brought  the  question  of  the  franchise 
very  prominently  before  the  public,  not  only  at  Heidelberg  and  Rustenburg, 
but  also  at  Johannesburg. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  refer  to  one  matter  which  has  caused  me  much 
pain.  It  was  clearly  and  distinctly  agreed  and  understood  by  you  all,  as  well 
as  by  us,  that  both  sides  would  treat  this  matter  as  confidential  and  secret,  as 
discussions  of  such  important  matters  cannot  be  carried  on  with  any  results 
on  the  tops  of  houses.  What  has  ha]r)pened  ?  On  the  28th  of  March  I 
received  your  letter,  and  on  the  3rd  of  April,  whilst  I  was  yet  giving  it 
earnest  consideration,  and  had  taken  all  the  measures  to  keep  it  secret,  the 
contents  of  the  same  appeared  in  the  London  IHrnes,  while  some  days  later 
your  answer  appeared  in  full  in  the  Cape  Tivies,  the  Diamond  Fields  Adver- 
tiser, and  other  pay^ers  under  the  influence  of  the  capitalists.  The  manner  in 
which  these  papers  favourable  to  you,  or  controlled  by  you,  have  dealt  with 
me  in  this  matter  has  caused  me  (I  admit  it  with  regret)  to  doubt  for  one 
moment  your  good  faith.  Thinking,  however,  of  the  great  interest  as  it  were 
in  the  balance,  and  believing,  moreover,  that  you  never  for  private  or  party 
purposes  intended  to  play  with  the  true  and  lasting  interests  of  all  sections  of 
the  community,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  reply  has  been  published 
through  one  of  your  subordinates,  and  regret  that  the  publication  has  not 
been  immediately  repudiated  by  you  publicly  as  a  grave  breach  of  faith.  I 
would  regret  it,  while  there  exists  so  few  points  of  difference  between  us,  that 
these  things  should  bar  the  way  through  careless  and  wrong  tactics  to  a 
permanent  understanding,  and  trust  that  the  hand  extended  to  the  Industry 
in  absolute  good  faith  will  not  be  slighted  purposely  and  wilfully.  Owing  to 
the  publication  of  your  reply,  there  exists  no  further  reason  for  secrecy,  and 
I  shall  hand  my  reply  to  the  press. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

F.  W.  Reitz, 

State  Secretary. 

The  repudiation  of  Mr.  Lippert's  '*  official "  character  ;  the  contention 
that  the  State  Secretary,  State  Attorney,  and  Dr.  Leyds  could  divest 
themselves  of  all  responsibility  in  negotiations  such  as  these,  and  claim 
to  have  been  acting  in  their  private  capacity  only ;  and  the  extraordinary 
anxiety  to  keep  secret  matters  which  deeply  affected  the  pubhc,  and  to 
the  settlement  of  which  the  Government  designed  that  the  public 
should  be  committed,  compelled  the  negotiators  to  produce  evidence 
that  the  statements  and  conclusions  of  the  Government  were  not 
warranted  by  the  facts.     The  following  letter,  which  was  formally 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  279 

acknowledged  but  never  answered,  practically  concluded  the  negotia- 
tions : 

Johannesburg,  S.A.R.,  Airril  14,  1899. 
To  the  HoTiourable  the  State  Secretary,  Pretoria. 

Honourable  Sir, — 

We  have  tlie  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication 
of  the  8th  April,  1899. 

Certain  of  our  statements  being  doubted  and  described  as  erroneous  in  your 
letter,  we  deem  it  advisable  to  go  more  fully  into  the  facts  which  have  pre- 
ceded and  led  to  this  correspondence. 

It  may  be  that  communications  exchanged  through  an  intermediary  have 
been  transmitted  in  a  manner  liable  to  convey  a  different  impression  from 
what  was  actually  meant,  and  in  order  to  clear  any  possible  misunderstanding, 
we  beg  to  enclose  copies  of  all  documents  supplied  to  us  by  Mr.  Lippert,  whom 
we  at  all  times  considered  as  your  authorized  agent. 

From  these  it  will  be  apparent  that  during  the  negotiations  we  acted  in 
perfect  good  faith,  comnmnicating  and  discussing  what  we  justly  considered 
were  the  wishes  and  proposals  of  the  Government,  and  it  will  also  be  clear  to . 
you  that  every  one  of  our  statements  is  based  on  documents  which  we  had 
every  reason  to  believe  were  approved  of  by  the  Government. 

On  February  27th  Mr.  Lippert  called  together  Messrs.  E.  Birkenruth, 
A.  Brakhan,  and  G.  Rouliot,  to  whom  he  stated  that  a  settlement  of  certain 
pending  questions  could  probably  be  arrived  at.  He  said  that  he  had  ascer- 
tained the  views  of  Dr.  Leyds,  Messrs.  Reitz  and  Smuts,  who  had  agreed  to  a 
certain  programme,  and  he  wanted  to  know  whether  we  would  be  willing  to 
open  negotiations  on  that  basis,  in  which  case  the  three  officials  mentioned 
would  see  the  State  President  and  ascertain  whether  he  would  be  prepared  to 
adopt  their  views. 

If  the  State  President's  approval  could  be  obtained,  Mr.  Lippert  suggested 
that  a  conference  should  be  held  to  discuss  the  subjects  mentioned  in  his 
memorandum. 

This  memorandum  (Annexure  '  A '),  as  explained  to  us  by  Mr.  Lippert, 
enumerates  under  Clauses  1  to  5  inclusive  the  points  which  the  Government 
expected  us  to  concede,  and  the  other  clauses  are  what  the  Government  pro- 
posed doing  in  return. 

We  were  then  informed  that  the  programme  must  be  considered  as  a  whole, 
and  either  adopted  or  rejected  as  such,  no  question  being  considered  separately, 
and  that  the  matter  must  be  kept  absolutely  secret. 

Upon  our  statement  that  we  personally  would  be  willing  to  open  negotiations 
on  the  basis  suggested,  Mr.  Lippert  went  to  Pretoria  and  informed  the  high 
officials  above  named. 

On  March  1st  Mr.  Lippert  informed  us  that  the  State  President  was  viewing 
the  matter  favourably,  and  requested  us  to  acquaint  our  friends  by  cable. 

Our  replies  having  been  communicated  to  Mr.  Lippert,  a  meeting  was 
aiTanged  on  March  9th,  as  recited  in  our  previous  letter,  at  which,  Mr. 
Lippert  informed  us,  no  new  subject  outside  of  those  mentioned  in  his 
memorandum  could  be  discussed. 

Messrs.  Pistorius  and  Pierce,  being  invited  by  Mr.  Lippert  to  attend  the 
meeting,  were  each  supplied  by  him  with  a  list  of  the  questions  to  be  dis- 
cussed, forming  part  of  the  proposed  settlement  (Annexure  '  B  '). 

On  March  12th  Mr.  Lippert  communicated  to  us  what  he  termed  the 
definite  proposals  of  the  Government  of  the  S.  A.R.,  which  were  duly  cabled  to 
our  friends  in  Europe  (a  copy  of  this  cable  has  already  been  sent  to  you). 


280  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

He  also  read  to  us  the  declaration,  which  ho  suggested  we  should  sign  on 
behalf  of  ourselves  and  our  European  friends  (Annexure  '  0  '). 

A  speedy  reply  to  our  cable  was  asked  for,  as  Mr.  Lippert  had  informed  us 
that,  if  any  settlement  could  be  arrived  at,  the  agreement  had  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Honourable  the  First  Volksraad  before  the  closing  of  the  extraordinary 
session  which  was  drawing  near. 

We  beg  to  point  out  to  you  that  by  cabling  these  proposals  to  Europe,  we 
could  not  possibly  conceive  that  Ave  were  acting  under  a  misconception,  as  the 
day  on  which  they  were  made  to  us,  the  12th  of  March,  being  a  Sunrlay,  the 
Telegraph  Office  was  specially  kept  open  for  the  purpose  of  despatching  the 
cables,  which  were  duly  received  and  forwarded  upon  production  of  an  order 
from  Mr.  Lippert. 

In  our  letter  of  March  17th  to  his  Honour  the  State  President,  conveying 
the  nature  of  our  friends'  reply,  we  mentioned  the  fact  that  the  communica- 
tion made  to  us  by  Mr.  Lippert  on  behalf  of  the  Government  had  been  fully 
cabled  ;  we  stated  that  our  friends  no  doubt  based  their  suggestion  to  further 
discuss  the  whole  of  the  proposals  with  Dr.  Leyds  upon  the  fact  that  the 
Government  had  stipulated  that  they  should  become  parties  to  the  proposed 
settlement. 

In  your  reply  of  March  18th  no  exception  is  taken  to  these  statements  ; 
you  tell  us,  on  behalf  of  his  Honour  the  State  President,  *  that  the  exchange 
of  views  can  best  take  place  direct  with  the  Government,  and  here  within  the 
Republic, '  pointing  out  the  fact  '  that  the  session  of  the  Volksraad  was  close 
at  hand,  and  that  therefore  further  delay  is  undesirable. ' 

You  will  thus  see  that  we  were  perfectly  justified  in  thinking  that  the  com- 
munications made  to  our  European  friends,  embodying  the  proposals  of  the 
Government  of  the  South  African  Republic,  were  cabled  with  the  knowledge 
and  approval  of  the  Government,  and  that  we  were  requested  to  sign  a 
declaration  on  behalf  of  ourselves  and  our  friends,  which  declaration  had  to 
be  made  public. 

Our  letter  of  the  27th  March  conveyed  to  you  our  opinion  and  that  of  our 
friends  upon  the  subjects  comprised  in  the  programme  which  was  submitted 
to  us,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  go  over  them  in  detail  again.  We  beg  only  to 
offer  a  few  remarks  upon  certain  points  raised  in  your  letter  of  the  8  th  April : 
— Bewaarplaatsen  :  We  suggest  a  basis  for  the  valuation  of  bowaarplaatsen, 
machine  stands,  and  water-rights,  which  in  our  opinion  ought  to  be  adopted, 
in  order  to  have  a  uniform  and  easy  method  of  valuing  these  places. 

Financier :  Being  fully  aware  of  the  complexity  of  financial  problems  and 
questions  of  taxation  in  this  State,  we  are  anxious  that  the  financier  appointed 
should  be  of  such  a  standing  as  to  command  the  confidence  of  all,  so  that  his 
recommendations  cannot  raise  any  ulterior  discussion.  For  that  reason  we 
expressed  the  opinion  that,  before  making  the  appointment,  the  Government 
should  be  guided  in  its  choice  by  someone  belonging  to  a  firm  of  well-known 
independent  standing.  We  have  no  desire  to  see  this  Government  base  its 
future  financial  policy  on  any  particular  line,  in  the  interest  of,  or  directed 
against,  any  special  section  of  the  people.  We  only  wish  to  see  the  financial 
policy  established  on  sound  recognised  economic  principles,  with  fair  and 
equitable  taxation  calculated  according  to  the  proper  requirements  of  the  State. 

Press  Agitation — Political  Organizations  :  We  have  already  informed  you 
that,  so  far  as  we  know,  there  has  been  no  organized  press  agitation,  and  that 
we  should  be  willing  at  all  times  to  deprecate  the  stirring  up  of  strife  between 
nationalities  caused  by  any  agency  whatsoever.  We  consider  it  desirable  to 
see  that  feeling  more  general,  as  we  are  convinced  that  exaggerated  press 
campaigns  conducted  by  newspapers  generally  reported  to  be  influenced  by  the 
Government,  and  tending  to  create  dissension  amongst  the  various  classes  of 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  281 

the  community,  are  calculated  to  cause  an  infinite  amount  of  harm  to  the 
vested  interests  of  all  sections  of  the  ]iopulation. 

Dynamite  :  In  your  letter  of  the  8th  April,  you  appear  to  have  lost  sight  of 
the  fact  that  the  proposed  settlement  was  submitted  to  us  as  a  whole.  Mr. 
Lippert  made  it  clear  that,  in  consideration  of  the  Government  granting  the 
measures  enumerated  in  his  memorandum,  it  was  expected  that  we  should 
abandon  our  present  contentions,  and  declare  ourselves  satisfied  with  the 
settlement  ]tvoposed  by  the  Government.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  this 
would  be  lar  from  meeting  our  desires,  but  we  intimated  to  you  that  we 
should  be  willing  to  recommend  to  the  mining  industry  the  adoption  of  the 
l^roposals  made  to  us  on  this  subject,  if  by  so  doing  we  could  promote  a 
permanent  satisfactory  solution  of  all  pending  questions. 

In  conclusion,  we  beg  to  refer  to  the  publication  of  our  previous  letter  to 
you.  It  took  place  here  on  the  6th  inst.  in  the  afternoon  ;  we  immediately 
instituted  an  inquiry,  and  on  the  8th  inst.  in  the  morning  we  wrote  that  we 
were  in  a  position  to  assure  you  that  we  could  in  no  way  be  held  responsible 
for  the  publication.  We  never  for  a  moment  doubted  your  good  faith,  nor 
that  of  the  other  gentlemen  for  whom  the  letter  was  meant,  but  thought  that 
possibly  the  communication  could  have  been  made  through  one  of  your 
subordinates.  However,  not  being  certain  of  the  fact,  we  merely  repudiated 
any  responsibility  on  our  part,  and  regi-et  that  you  should  have  publicly  laid 
the  blame  on  our  side,  without  having  communicated  with  us,  asking  for  an 
explanation,  if  you  had  any  suspicion. 

We  beg  to  assure  you  that  we  are  as  willing  as  ever  to  co  operate  with  you 
in  arriving  at  a  settlement  of  all  pending  dilTerences  in  order  to  secure  peace 
and  prosperity  in  this  country,  and  we  shall  be  ready  at  all  times  to  meet  and 
discuss  Avith  you,  or  any  other  delegates  of  the  Government,  any  matter  likely 
to  bring  about  a  speedy  and  permanent  solution  of  all  questions,  still  bearing 
in  mind  what  we  mentioned  in  our  previous  corrcspondeuce,  that  we  are  not 
qualified  to  speak  on  behalf  of  the  whole  community. 

As  you  have  informed  us  that  you  have  no  objection  to  it,  we  shall  give  a 
copy  of  this  letter  to  the  press. 

We  have  the  honour  to  be,  honourable  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

g.  rouliot, 
John  M.  Pierce, 
A.  Brakhan, 

E.    BlUKENRUTII. 

(Mr.  Pistorius,  being  absent  from  town,  could  not  sign  this  letter.) 


ANNEXURE  'A.' 

MR.    E.    LIPPERT's   MEMORANDUM. 

1.  Cessation  of  press  agitation  here  and  in  Europe. 

2.  Sux^port  on  the  coolie  question. 

3.  Settlement  of  the  dynamite  question. 

4.  Loan  (if  required). 

5.  Severance  from  the  S.  A.  League. 

6.  Appointment  of  State  Financier  and  State  Auditor,  of  European  reputa- 
tion, with  a  seat  and  vote  on  the  Executive  in  all  questions  of  finance. 

7.  No  new  taxation  of  mines  until  submitted  by  Minister  of  Finance. 

8.  Moderate  valuation  of  bewaarplaatsen. 

9.  Burgher  rights— five  years— property  test. 


282  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 


ANNEXURE  '  B. 

Cessation  of  press  agitation  here  and  in  Europe. 

Support  to  the  Government  in  its  treatment  of  the  coolie  question. 

Settlement  of  the  dynamite  question. 

Deprecate  the  objects  of  the  S.  A.  League. 

Support  the  placing  of  a  loan  if  Government  wishes  it. 

Appointment  of  a  financial  adviser  to  the  Government,  of  European  reputa- 
tion, and  of  an  Auditor,  both  with  seats  and  votes  in  the  Executive  Council 
on  all  financial  matters.  (This  has  been  amended  by  the  Government,  so  far 
as  the  Auditor  is  concerned,  to  retain  the  present  Auditor,  and  to  give  him, 
re  dismissal,  the  same  status  as  a  Judge,  and  to  make  him  directly  responsible 
to  the  Volksraad.) 

No  fresh  taxation  to  be  levied  on  the  mines  until  the  Financial  Adviser  has 
laid  his  proposals  before  the  Government. 

Sale  of  the  undermining  rights  to  the  holders  of  surface  rights  (bewaar- 
plaatsen,  etc.),  at  a  moderate  valuation. 

Extension  of  the  franchise  by  granting  burgher  rights  after  .  .  .  years  of 
registration,  coupled  with  a  property  test. 

ANNEXURE  '0. 

DRAFT  OF  DECLARATIOX   TO   FOLLOW   PROTOCOL    EMBODYING   THE 
RESOLUTIONS   AGREED   UPON. 

.  .  .  Thereupon  the  subscribed  parties  from  Johannesburg,  for  themselves 
and  for  the  parties  they  represent  here  and  in  Europe,  declared  : — 

'  The  passing  by  the  Volksraad  of  the  laws  to  be  submitted  by  the  Govern- 
ment diiring  this  session, — 

'  For  the  appointment  during  the  present  year  of  a  Financial  Adviser 
to  the  Government,  of  European  reputation,  who  shall  have  a  seat  and  a 
vote  in  the  Executive  Council  on  all  financial  matters. 

*  For  placing  the  Auditor- General  on  the  same  status  re  dismissal  as 
the  Judges,  and  for  making  him  responsible  directly  to  the  Volksraad, 
it  being  agreed  that  until  such  Financial  Adviser  has  laid  his  budget  pro- 
posals before  the  Government,  no  fresh  taxation  shall  be  laid  upon  the 
mining  industry,  nor  any  other  direct  taxation. 

'  For  granting  the  undermining  rights  under  bewaarplaatsen,  machine 
stands,  and  water-rights,  to  the  present  holders  of  the  licenses,  covering 
such  reserved  areas  at  a  moderate  valuation,  such  valuation  to  be  arrived 
at  in  the  following  manner  :  The  Government  to  appoint  a  valuator,  with 
instructions  to  value  these  rights  at  a  fair  and  moderate  valuation,  the 
holder  of  the  surface  license  to  appoint  a  valuator  ;  if  they  agree,  then 
the  surface  license  holder  shall  have  the  first  right  to  the  undermining 
rights  at  such  valuation  ;  if  the  two  valuators  cannot  agree  about  a 
valuation,  they  shall  appoint  together  an  umpire  ;  if  they  cannot  agree 
about  an  umpire,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  High  Court  shall  be  asked  to 
appoint  an  umpire  ;  the  decision  of  such  umpire  shall  be  final  as  to  the 
value  of  the  area  under  arbitration.  If  the  holder  of  the  surface  license 
refuses  to  purchase  at  the  said  valuation,  the  Government  shall  bo  at 
liberty  to  dispose  of  it  elsewhere. 

'  For  a  permanent  settlement  of  the  dynamite  question  on  one  or  the 
other  bases  following,  namely,  that  the  status  quo  remain  in  force  till  the 
end  of  the  contract  period,  the  Government  making  use  of  its  right  to 
revise  the  prices  under  the  terms  of  the  agreement,  or  that  the  Dynamite 
Company  reduce  the  price  by  5s.  to  70s.  for  No.  1,  and  to  90s.  for  blast- 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  283 

ing  gelatine,  the  Government  undertaking  to  take  over  the  works  of  the 
Dynamite  Company  at  the  end  of  the  agreement  at  a  valuation  as  provided 
by  the  offer  now  before  the  Volksraad. 

*  For  an  extension  of  the  franchise  to  all  white  aliens  in  this  State, 
in  the  following  manner  :  That  naturalization  be  granted  to  all  seeking 
it  who  have  resided  in  the  State  for  two  years,  and  who  are  of  good 
behaviour,  and  who  have  not  suffered  any  dishonourable  sentence  by 
any  Court,  upon  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  as  prescribed  ];y  the 
existing  law  ;  upon  such  naturalization  he  shall  be  entitled  to  elect  a 
member  to  the  Second  Volksraad,  and  two  years  after  shall  be  entitled 
to  be  elected  as  a  member  of  the  Second  Volksraad.  A  period  of  seven 
years  having  elapsed  after  naturalization,  he  shall,  by  virtue  of  that 
lapse  of  time  and  without  further  hindrance,  obtain  full  burgher  rights. 
The  Government,  however,  reserve  to  themselves  the  right  (in  order  to 
secure  the  passing  of  such  law  through  the  Volksraad  of  this  and  that  of 
the  session  of  1900)  to  extend  the  period  of  naturalization  for  the  right 
of  voting  for  the  election  of  a  President.  Children  of  naturalized  aliens, 
who  attain  their  majority  when  their  father  has  obtained  full  burgher 
rights,  have  ipso  facto  the  same  rights  as  the  father.  The  Government 
shall  also  have  the  right  to  attach  a  moderate  property  qualification  to 
the  obtaining  of  these  extended  franchise  rights.  It  is  understood  that 
by  the  laws  of  the  State  this  extended  franchise  can  only  finally  be 
granted  by  the  Volksraad  in  session  1900,  after  the  law  has  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  people  for  twelve  months,  but  that  the  period  of  9  resp. 
7  years  shall  date  from  the  passing  of  the  resolution  to  be  passed  by  the 
Volksraad  now  in  session. 

will  be  hailed  by  us  with  great  satisfaction  as  removing  all  obstacles  to  a 
friendly  and  peaceful  development  of  mutual  understanding  and  co-opera- 
tion. It  is  our  wish,  and  in  the  interest  of  those  we  represent,  that  the 
public  in  Europe  and  in  South  Africa  be  made  fully  aware  hereof  by  means 
of  the  press,  and  that  hostile  agitation  by  means  of  the  press  here  and  else- 
where shall  be  avoided  in  future. 

'  We  deprecate  all  attempts  that  may  be  made  by  political  agencies  to  stir 
up  strife  between  the  different  nationalities  inhabiting  this  State,  and  shall 
not  be  parties  to  any  such  organizations. 

*  Seeing  the  many  evils  springing  from  indiscriminate  immigration  of 
coloured  races,  and  having  been  assured  that  the  Government  will  do  all  in 
its  power  to  facilitate  in  other  ways  the  supply  of  labour,  we  support  the 
Government  in  its  contention  that  the  regulations  concerning  the  treatment 
of  "coolies  and  other  coloured  races "  had  best  be  left  to  them  as  a  matter  of 
internal  concern. 

'  We  will  support  the  placing  of  a  State  loan  recommended  by  the  Finan- 
cier in  the  European  markets  at  reasonable  rates,  if  the  Government  should 
desire  us  to  do  so  in  the  common  interest. 

'  Seeing  the  great  value  the  Government  evidently  sets  upon  a  friendly  and 
permanent  settlement  of  the  dynamite  question,  which  has  contributed  so 
much  to  disturbing  the  good  relations,  we  declare  ourselves  satisfied  with  the 
final  settlement  arrived  at. 

'  And  should,  after  the  passing  of  the  above  proposals  of  law  as  a  whole  by 
the  Volksraad,  the  Government  desire  us  to  give  publicity  to  this  our  declara- 
tion for  the  promotion  of  peace  and  goodwill,  such  publicity  as  the  Govern- 
ment may  desire  shall  be  given  thereto. ' 

While  the  negotiations  were  actually  in  progress,  and  while  the 
Imperial  Government  were  awaiting  a  reply  to  their  dispatch,  the 


284  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

Prc;;ideat  made  two  determined  attempts  to  rush  the  confirmation  of 
the  dynamite  monopoly  through  the  Kaad.  The  first  proposal  was  for 
the  fifteen  years'  extension,  and  the  second  provided  for  condonation 
of  all  breaches  of  the  concession  in  the  past  and  for  compensation  upon 
the  expiry  of  the  concession.  '; 

The  Uitlanders  had  not  failed  to  perceive  that  the  pit  dug  for  them  "^ 
might  conceivably  serve  another  purpose.  They  ignored  these  two  .' 
breaches  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  President,  and  pursued  the  " 
negotiations ;  and  Mr.  Kruger  overreached  himself.  Having  failed  ; 
with  Johannesburg,  and  having  failed  in  the  Eaad,  he  appealed  to  his  i 
burghers  with  th«  scheme  of  mock  reform.  His  hope  was  to  get  such  } 
support  in  the  country  that  the  Volksraad  in  its  May  session  would  ] 
have  to  spare  the  monopoly.  He  did  not  realize  that  he  would  have  {, 
to  make  good  the  things  which  he  had  offered  as  shams.  His  greed  had"  ' 
given  the  opening :  his  hand  had  provided  the  weapon.  It  is  not  "i 
good  to  be  too  clever  ;  and  the  luck  had  turned.  "', 

The  publication  of  the  correspondence  between  the  Government  andi 
the  capitalists  created  a  profound  impression.     The  series  of  speeches  | 
delivered  by   the   President   in   support   of    his   sham   reforms   only] 
deepened  that  impression  by  providing  more   and  more  convincing  J 
'  evidence  as  to  who  the  real  intriguers  and  mischief-makers  were.     To-] 
the  Uitlander  public  one  thing  became  quite  clear,  and  that  was  that| 
it  was  the  Governm^ent  who  wished  to  barter  their  rights  away  and  the  J 
capitalists — the  abused  capitalists — who  refused  to  do  so.     An  attempts 
was  immediately  made  to  hold  a  large  public  meeting  for  the  purposeij 
of  endorsing  the  attitude  taken  by  the  negotiators,  but  the  Government! 
refused  permission  to  hold  an  open-air  meeting.     In  their  attempt  ta^j 
hold  a  meeting  indoors,  the  Uitlanders  were  defeated  by  the  buildingj 
being  condemned  as  unsafe.     The  Government  yielded,  however,  before | 
the  storm  of  disapproval  which  followed  their  prohibition,  and  the  StateJ 
Secretary,  Mr.  Keitz,  suggested  that  the   Uitlanders  should  hold  a| 
series  of  small  indoor  meetings  in  different  localities.     The  meetings  ' 
were  accordingly  held,  and  they  provided  unmistakable  evidence  of  the 
gravity  of   the  position.     By  their   numbers,  their   unanimity,  their 
enthusiasm,  and  their  moderation,  the  Uitlanders  carried  conviction 
to  some  and  roused  the  grave  apprehension  of  others.     Among  the 
latter,  it  is  fair  to  infer,  were  President  Kruger  and  his  sympathizers 
in  the  Free  State  and  Cape  Colony. 

There  is  one  disability  the  existence  of  which  the  advocates  of  the 
Uitlander  cause  are  always  painfuUy  conscious  of.  They  know  as  well 
as  any  of  their  critics  that  it  is  no  picture  which  is  all  black — that  you 
get  no  perspective,  no  effects,  without  contrasts !  Yet  it  has  not  been 
believed  that  they  were  willing  to  acknowledge  the  good  that  there 
was,  and  that  a  politic  instinct  no  less  than  a  sense  of  justice  prompted 
a  diligent  effort  to  discover  and  make  much  of  the  genuinely  hopeful 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  285 

signs.  Tho  monotony  was  none  of  their  making ;  it  was  in  the 
nature  of  the  facts,  and  not  of  the  recital ;  but  monotony  there  was, 
and  it  was  productive  of  one  very  bad  result.  The  conditions, 
admittedly  bad,  came  to  be  regarded  by  a  good  many  as  being  only  as 
bad  as  they  had  for  a  long  time  been  known  to  be,  leaving  little  hope 
except  through  the  long  slow  influence  of  time,  but  causing  no 
immediate  anxiety  or  alarm.  Some  day  a  grubbing  historian  may  read 
the  back  files  of  South  African  newspapers  and  marvel  that  such 
warnings  should  have  passed  unheeded,  but  the  fact  is  tha.t  the 
Transvaal  Government  and  its  sympathizers  had  become  indifferent  to 
warnings  followed  by  no  results  and  accustomed  to  prophecies  un- 
fulfilled. To  say  that  they  were  '  fiddling  while  Kome  burned '  is  to  a 
great  extent  true  of  those  of  the  South  African  Dutch  who  wore 
sincerely  desirous  that  the  Transvaal  Government  should  reform  its 
ways  and  who  were  not  consciously  aiding  in  the  republicanizing 
movement ;  but  even  of  them  it  is  not  an  adequate  description — as  the 
answers  given  to  two  questioners  by  the  most  prominent  and  one  of 
the  most  prominent  Bondsmen  indicate.  Both  of  them  had  in  private 
conversation  on  different  occasions  acknowledged  the  soundness  of  the 
Uitlander  cause.  To  the  suggestion,  '  Then  v/hy  not  say  so  publicly  ?' 
the  less  important  of  the  two  replied,  '  People  would  only  say  that  I* 
am  climbing  down  and  ratting  on  my  party.'  And  the  more  unportant 
of  the  two,  answering  a  similar  question,  said,  '  Yes,  the  Kev.  S.  J.  Du 
Toit  did  that.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Bond ;  and  to-day  he  is — 
nothing  1  If  I  did  it,  I  should  fall  as  he  did.'  '  Then,'  said  his  lU-itish 
friend,  '  what  is  influence  worth  if  it  cannot  be  used  for  good  ?  Can 
there  be  said  to  be  influence  when  it  cannot  be  used  at  all  ?'  '  No,' 
was  the  reply,  '  I  have  no  influence  as  against  the  cry  of  race  :  blood  is 
thicker  than  water  ;  and  I  have  no  influence  at  all  with  Kruger.'  The 
answer  to  this  contained  the  crux  of  the  question.  '  Indeed  you  have ; 
but  you  have  not  the  courage  to  exercise  it.  The  influence  of  advice 
has  failed ;  dare  you  try  the  influence  of  repudiation  ?'  The  answer 
was  a  shake  of  the  head  and  '  Blood  is  thicker  than  water.'  That  is 
it  1     The  Piper  pipes  and  the  children  foUow. 

It  is  too  much  to  believe  that  the  conference  between  the  High 
Commissioner  and  President  Kruger  was  a  suggestion  to  which  the 
latter  had  to  be  won  over  either  by  President  Steyn  or  Mr.  Hofmeyr. 
It  is,  indeed,  well  known  that  the  idea  of  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of 
discussing  matters  at  issue  between  the  two  Governments  ha  i  been 
considered  in  Pretoria  for  some  months  before  it  actually  took  place.i 

^  In  March  the  writer  made  the  suggestion  to  a  representative  of  the 
Pretoria  Government  in  the  hope  of  getting  rid  by  a  '  square  talk '  of  the 
many  and  ever-increasing  differences,  and  was  informed  that  the  idea  had 
often  been  discussed  and  as  often  abandoned,  because  it  containod  the 
objectionable  feature  of  establishing  a  precedent  for  England's  interference  in 
internal  aflFairs, 


286  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

The  news  that,  upon  the  invitation  of  President  Steyn,  the  High 
Commissioner  and  President  Kruger  had  agreed  to  meet  at  Bloem- 
fontein,  was  received  by  the  Uitlanders  with  reUef ;  not  hope,  because 
it  was  believed  that  the  President's  object  was  to  get  something,  not 
to  give  something ;  but  sheer  relief,  because,  come  what  might,  the 
position  could  never  again  be  the  same  as  it  was  before  the  conference. 
Something  must  change  ;  someone  must  yield  ;  the  unbearable  strain 
must  cease.  Sir  Alfred  Milner — wise  and  just  and  strong — com- 
manded the  entire  confidence  of  the  Uitlanders.  It  was  not  hoped 
that  he  would  succeed  in  effecting  a  settlement  at  such  a  meeting, 
because  in  the  circumstances  such  an  achievement  was  believed  not  to 
be  humanly  possible;  but  it  was  not  feared  that  he  would  fail  in  his  "| 
duty  to  his  country  and  to  his  trust.  j 

It  is  no  part  of  the  object  of  this  volume  to  deal  with  the  negotiations  | 
which  took  place  at  Bloemfontein  or  with  the  terms  of  settlement  at  [i 
the  present  moment  under  discussion;  the  objective  is  to  recite  the  i 
circumstances  and  conditions  which  made  these  negotiations  necessary,  '^ 
ai\d  which,  if  they  fail,  must  lead  to  bloodshed.  'j 

With  a  barrier  of   insurmountable  race   feeling   before  them,  the    y 
Uitlanders  are  hopeless  of  effecting  a  peaceful  redress  of  their  grievances    'i 
•  except  by  the  aid  of  the  Suzerain  power.     The  President  and  his  party  .  .3 
will  not  yield  one  iota  except  upon  the  advice  of  those  who  have  the    S 
will  and  the  power  to  see  that  advice  is  followed.     Such  power  rests    .^ 
in  two  quarters.     It  rests  with  the  progressive  Dutch  of  South  Africa.   '.| 
They  have  the  power,  but  unfortunately  they  have  not  as  yet  the  will,  J' 
or  they  have  not  the  courage,  to  use  it.     Time  after  time  have  they  ;};! 
been   stultified   by  rallying  to   the  cry  of   race,   and  defending  Mr.   :^ 
Kruger's  attitude  on  certain  points,  only  to  find  the  President  abandon-    J 
ing  as  untenable  the  position  which  they  have  proclaimed  to  be  proper.    '5 
To  them  have  been  addressed  most  earnest  and  most  solemn  appeals    .| 
to  be  up  and  doing  whilst  there  was  yet  time.     From  them  have  been    p_ 
extracted — in  times  of  peace — the  amplest  admissions  of  the  justice  of   ^ 
the  Uitlander  case.     But  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  they  will  not 
go.     They  will  not  say  to  the  President  and  his  party :  '  We  cannot 
extol  in  you  what  we  would  condemn   in  ourselves.     The  claim  of 
kindred  cannot  for  ever  be  the  stalking-horse  for  injustice.'    That  they 
cannot  do  ;    and  thus  are  they  bonded  to  the  one  who  will  raise  the 
race  cry  without  scruple.     There  is  no  more  hopeless  feature  for  the  ,; 
peaceful  settlement  of  the  Transvaal  question  from  within  than  the  " 
unanimity  which  marks  the  public  utterances  of  those  who  are  clauued  1 
as  representing  Afrikander    sentiment   in   the   present  crisis.     Those 
expressions,  ranging  from  the  most  violent  denunciations  by  politicians 
and  ministers  of  the  Gospel  down  to  the  most  illogical  and  hysterical 
appeals  of  public  writers,  all— all  are  directed  against  the  injured.    Not 
a  warning,  not  a  hint — not  a  prayer  even — addressed  to  the  offender. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END  287 

They  have  not  the  sense  of  justice  to  see,  or  they  have  not  the  courage 
to  denounce,  the  perpetrators  of  evil,  but  direct  all  their  efforts  to 
hushing  the  complaints  of  the  victims.  Truly  it  would  almost  appear 
that  there  is  some  guiding  principle  running  through  it  all ;  something 
which  recognises  the  real  sinner  in  the  victim  who  complains,  and  not 
in  the  villain  who  perpetrates ;  the  something  which  found  a  concrete 
expression,  when  bail  was  fixed  at  £200  for  the  murder  of  a  British 
subject  and  at  j61,000  for  the  crime  of  objecting  to  it. 

No  civilized  body  of  men  ever  had  more  just  cause  for  complaint 
than  the  Uitlanders  of  the  Transvaal  have,  but  they  carry  on  their 
reform  movement  under  very  diificult  and  discouraging  conditions. 
Those  who  have  petitioned  their  Sovereign  to  secure  for  them  some 
amelioration  of  their  lot  are  branded  by  the  head  of  the  State  as  rebels 
for  so  doing,  and  his  example  is  followed  by  all  his  party.  Those  men 
who  organized  or  addressed  the  public  meetings  which  were  suggested 
by  Mr.  Reitz,  the  State  Secretary,  and  held  for  the  purpose  of  discuss- 
ing a  proposal  publicly  made  by  the  Government,  are  the  men  whom 
Messrs.  Dieperink  and  Viljoen,  the  members  representing  Johannes- 
burg in  the  First  and  Second  Volksraad,  denounced  as  traitors  who 
should  be  summarily  dealt  with  by  the  Government.  British  subjects 
associated  with  the  TJitlander  cause,  who  venture  to  call  upon  the 
British  Agent  in  Pretoria  or  the  High  Commissioner  in  Cape  Town, 
are  regarded  as  conspirators  and  are  watched  by  spies,  and  all  their 
movements  are  reported  to  the  Transvaal  Government.^  The  re- 
cognised leaders  among  the  Uitlanders  are  black-listed  in  the  Dutch 
press,  their  names,  addresses,  and  occupations  given  so  that  they  may 
be  identified —marked  down  in  the  newspapers  supported  by  the 
Government  as  men  to  be  dragged  out  and  shot  without  trial. 
Uitlander  newspapers  have  been  suppressed  for  mere  political  reasons, 
without  even  the  allegation  that  there  was  incitement  to  violence  or 
disorder,  and  it  is  therefore  not  unreasonable  that  the  impunity  with 
which  the  Dutch  newspapers  continue  this  campaign  month  after 
month  should  be  taken  as  the  measure  of  the  Government's  com- 
plicity. 

It  is  in  these  circumstances  that  appeal  has  been  made  to  England, 
the  only  other  quarter  in  which  there  rests  the  power  to  see  that  justice 
shall  be  done.     It  is  an  appeal  which  might  well  be  based  upon  the 

^  When  on  a  visit  to  Cape  Town  in  April,  the  writer  called  several  times 
upon  the  High  Commissioner,  and  learning  by  private  advice  that  his  move- 
ments were  being  reported  in  detail  through  the  Secret  Service  Department, 
he  informed  Sir  Alfred  Milnor  of  the  fact.  Sir  Alfred  admitted  tliat  the  idea 
of  secret  agents  in  British  territory  and  spies  round  or  in  Government  House 
was  not  pleasant,  but  expressed  the  hope  that  those  things  should  not  deter 
those  who  wislied  to  call  on  him,  as  he  was  there  as  tlu;  rejircsentativc  of 
Her  Majesty  for  the  benefit  of  British  subjects,  and  very  desjiious  of  ascer- 
taining for  himself  the  facts  of  the  case, 


288  THE  TRANSVAAL  FROM  WITHIN 

broad  and  acknowledged  right  of  a  subject  to  claim  in  case  of  injustice 
the  good  offices  of  his  own  Government.  But  here  it  is  based  upon  a 
special  right.  It  is  the  spirit  ^  of  the  Pretoria  Convention  which  the 
Uitlander  has  invoked  for  many  years,  only  to  be  told  that  the  spirit 
is  as  it  may  be  interpreted  from  the  letter.  But  it  is  not  so  I  Will  it 
be  suggested  that  the  British  Government  contemplated  such  license 
when  they  granted  the  charter  of  Keif- government  to  the  Transvaal, 
or  that  they  would  have  granted  it  had  they  foreseen  the  interpreta- 
tion ?  Can  it  be  said  that  Mr.  Kruger  and  his  colleagues  contemplated 
it,  or  would  have  dared  to  avow  the  intention  if  it  were  ever  enter- 
tained ?  No !  And  he  will  be  a  bolder  man  than  Mr.  ICruger  who 
will  dispute  that  answer ;  for  the  President's  own  defence  is,  not  that 
he  had  the  intention  or  has  the  right  to  differentiate  between  races  and 
between  classes ;  but — that  he  does  not  differentiate.  So  that  the  issue 
is  narrowed  to  this — that  it  is  merely  a  question  of  fact ! 

But  the  appeal  of  British  subjects  in  the  Transvaal  will  claim  a  hear- 
ing for  other  reasons,  too !  Only  the  blindest  can  fail  to  realize  how 
much  is  at  stake,  materially  and  morally,  or  can  fail  to  see  what  is 
the  real  issue,  and  how  the  Mother  Country  stands  on  trial  before  all 

^  Since  this  was  written,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  speaking  in  the  House  of 
Commons  on  July  28,  1899,  has  thus  disposed  of  the  question  : 

'  It  has  been  broken  in  the  spirit  more  than  it  has  been  broken  in  the 
letter.  The  whole  spirit  of  the  convention  is  the  preservation  of  equality  as 
between  all  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  Transvaal,  and  the  whole  policy  of 
the  Transvaal  has  been  to  promote  a  position  of  inferiority  on  the  part  of 
certain  classes.  There  is  something  even  more  striking  than  that.  The 
conventions  were,  of  course,  the  result  of  a  previous  conference.  At  that 
conference  definite  promises  were  made  which  made  it  impossible  to  doubt 
with  what  object  the  convention  was  signed.  On  May  10,  1881,  at  a  con- 
ference between  representatives  of  Her  Majesty  and  representatives  of  the 
Transvaal,  the  President,  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  asked  this  question  : 

'"Before  annexation,  had  British  subjects  complete  freedom  of  trade 
throughout  the  Transvaal  ?  Were  they  on  the  same  footing  as  citizens  of 
the  Transvaal  ? 

'  "Mr.  Kruger  replied:  They  were  on  the  same  footing  as  the  burghers. 
There  was  not  the  slightest  difference,  in  accordance  with  the  Sand  River 
Convention. 

'"Sir  Hercules  Robinson:  I  presume  you  will  not  object  to  that  con- 
tinuing ? 

'  "  Mr.  Kruger :  No.     There  will  be  equal  protection  for  everybody. 

*  "  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  :  And  equal  privileges. 

'  *  *  Mr.  Kruger :  We  make  no  dillerence  so  far  as  burgher  rights  are  con- 
cerned. There  may,  perhaps,  be  some  slight  difference  in  the  case  of  a  young 
person  who  has  just  come  into  the  country  "  (cheers). 

*  Now,  there  is  a  distinct  promise  given  by  the  man  who  is  now  President 
of  the  Transvaal  State  that,  so  far  as  burgher  rights  were  concerned,  they 
made  and  would  make  no  difference  whatever  between  burghers  and  those 
Vho  came  in.  The  root  of  the  difficulty  which  I  have  been  describing  lies  in 
the  fact  that  this  promise  has  not  been  kept. ' 


THE  BEGINNING. OF  THE  END  289 

her  children,  who  are  the  Empire.  Only  those  who  do  not  count  will 
refuse  to  face  the  responsibility  in  all  seiiousnessi,  or  will  fail  to  receive 
in  the  best  spirit  the  timely  reminder  of  past  neglect.  If  the  reproach- 
ing truth  be  a  hard  thing  to  hear,  it  is,  for  those  whose  every  impulse 
jumps  towards  championing  the  great  Home  Land,  a  far,  far  harder 
thing  to  say.  Unpleasant  it  may  be,  but  not  without  good,  that 
England's  record  in  South  Africa — of  subjects  abandoned  and  of  rights 
ignored,  of  duty  neglected  and  of  pledge  unkopt,  of  lost  prestige  and 
slipping  Empire — should  spetik  to  quicken  a  memory  and  rouse  the 
native  sense  of  right,  so  that  a  nation's  conscience  will  say :  '  Be  just 
before  you  are  generous  !     Be  just  to  all — even  to  your  own  V 


19 


APPENDICES 
APPENDIX  A 

PRETOEIA  CONVENTION 

Convention  for  the  Settlement  of  the  Transvaal  Territory 

August,  1881. 
Preamble. 

Her  Majesty's  Commissioners  for  the  Settlement  of  the  Transvaal  territory, 
duly  appointed  as  such  by  a  Commission  passed  under  the  Royal  Sign  Manual 
and  Signet,  bearing  date  the  5th  day  of  April,  1881,  do  hereby  undertake  and 
guarantee  on  behalf  of  Her  Majesty  that,  from  and  after  the  8th  day  of 
August,  1881,  complete  self-government,  subject  to  the  suzerainty  of  Her 
Majesty,  her  heirs  and  successors,  will  be  accorded  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Transvaal  territory,  upon  the  following  terms  and  conditions,  and  subject  to 
the  following  reservations  and  limitations  : 

Article  I. 

The  said  territory,  to  be  hereinafter  called  the  Transvaal  State,  will 
embrace  the  land  lying  between  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  [Plere 
follow  three  pages  in  print  defining  boundaries.] 

Article  II. 

Her  Majesty  reserves  to  herself,  her  heirs  and  successors,  (a)  the  right  from 
time  to  time  to  appoint  a  British  Resident  in  and  for  the  said  State,  with 
such  duties  and  functions  as  are  hereinafter  defined  ;  (6)  the  right  to  move 
troops  through  the  said  State  in  time  of  war,  or  in  case  of  the  apprehension 
of  immediate  war  between  the  Suzerain  Power  and  any  Foreign  State  or 
Native  tribe  in  South  Africa  ;  and  (c)  the  control  of  the  external  relations 
of  the  said  State,  including  the  conclusion  of  treaties  and  the  conduct  of 
diplomatic  intercourse  with  Foreign  Powers,  such  intercourse  to  be  carried  on 
through  Her  Majesty's  diplomatic  and  consular  officers  abroad. 

Article  III. 

Until  altered  by  the  Volksraad,  or  other  competent  authority,  all  laws, 
whether  passed  before  or  after  the  annexation  of  the  Transvaal  territory  to 
Her  Majesty's  dominions,  shall,  except  in  so  far  as  they  are  inconsistent  with 
or  repugnant  to  the  provisions  of  this  Convention,  be  and  remain  in  force  in 
the  said  State  in  so  far  as  tliey  shall  be  applicable  thereto,  provided  that  no  ' 


APPENDIX  A  291 

future  enactment  especially  affecting  the  interest  of  natives  shall  have  any 
force  or  effect  in  the  said  State,  without  the  consent  of  Her  Majesty,  her 
heirs  and  successors,  first  had  and  obtained  and  signified  to  the  Government 
of  the  said  State  through  the  British  Resident,  provided  further  that  in  no 
case  will  the  repeal  or  amendment  of  any  laws  enacted  since  the  annexation 
have  a  retrospective  effect,  so  as  to  invalidate  any  acts  done  or  liabilities 
incurred  by  virtue  of  such  laws. 

Article  IV. 

On  the  8th  day  of  August,  1881,  the  Government  of  the  said  State,  together 
with  all  rights  and  obligations  thereto  appertaining,  and  all  State  property 
taken  over  at  the  time  of  annexation,  save  and  except  munitions  of  war,  will 
be  handed  over  to  Messrs.  Stephanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger,  Martinus 
Wessel  Pretorius,  and  Petrus  Jacobus  Joubert,  or  the  survivor  or  survivors  of 
them,  who  will  forthwith  cause  a  Yolksraad  to  be  elected  and  convened,  and 
the  Volksraad,  thus  elected  and  convened,  will  decide  as  to  the  further 
administration  of  the  Government  of  the  said  State. 

Article  V. 

All  sentences  passed  upon  persons  who  may  be  convicted  of  offences  con- 
trary to  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare  committed  during  the  recent  hostilities 
will  be  duly  cai'ried  out,  and  no  alteration  or  mitigation  of  such  sentences 
will  be  made  or  allowed  by  the  Government  of  the  Transvaal  State  without 
Her  Majesty's  consent  conveyed  through  the  British  Resident.  In  case  there 
shall  be  any  prisoners  in  any  of  the  gaols  of  the  Transvaal  State  whose 
respective  sentences  of  imprisonment  have  been  remitted  in  part  by  Her 
Majesty's  Administrator  or  other  officer  administering  the  Government,  such 
remission  will  be  recognised  and  acted  upon  by  the  future  Government  of  the 
said  State. 

Article  VI. 

Her  Majesty's  Government  will  make  due  compensation  for  all  losses  or 
damage  sustained  by  reason  of  such  acts  as  are  in  the  8th  Article  hereinafter 
specified,  which  may  have  been  committed  by  Her  Majesty's  forces  during 
the  recent  hostilities,  except  for  such  losses  or  damage  as  may  already  have 
been  compensated  for,  and  the  Government  of  the  Ti-ansvaal  State  will  make 
due  compensation  for  all  losses  or  damage  sustained  by  reason  of  such  acts  as 
are  in  the  8th  Article  hereinafter  specified  which  may  have  been  committed 
by  the  people  who  were  in  arms  against  Her  Majesty  during  the  recent 
hostilities,  except  for  such  losses  or  damages  as  may  already  have  been  com- 
pensated for. 

Article  VII. 

The  decision  of  all  claims  for  compensation,  as  in  the  last  preceding 
Article  mentioned,  will  be  referred  to  a  Sub -Commission,  consisting  of  the 
Honourable  George  Hudson,  the  Honourable  Jacobus  Petrus  de  Wet,  and  the 
Honourable  John  Gilbert  Kotze.  In  case  one  or  more  of  such  Sub-Com- 
missioners shall  be  unable  or  unwilling  to  act,  the  remaining  Sub-Com- 
missioner or  Sub-Commissioners  will,  after  consultation  with  the  Government 
of  the  Transvaal  State,  submit  for  the  approval  of  Her  Majesty's  High  Com- 
missioners the  names  of  one  or  more  persons  to  be  appointed  by  them  to  fill 
the  place  or  places  thus  vacated.  The  decision  of  the  said  Sub-Commissioners, 
or  of  a  majority  of  them,  will  be  final.  The  said  Sub-Commissioners  will 
enter  upon  and  perform  their  duties  with  all  convenient  speed.  They  will, 
before  taking  evidence  or  ordering  evidence  to  be  taken  in  respect  of  any 
claim,  decide  whether  s\ich  claim  can  be  entertained  at  all  under  the  rules 

19—2 


292  APPENDICES 

laid  down  in  the  next  succeeding  Article.  In  regard  to  claims  whicli  can  be 
so  entertained,  the  Sub-Commissioners  will  in  the  first  instance  afford  every 
facility  for  an  amicable  arrangement  as  to  the  amount  payable  in  respect  of 
any  claim,  and  only  in  cases  in  which  there  is  no  reasonable  ground  for 
believing  that  an  immediate  amicable  arrangement  can  be  arrived  at  will 
they  take  evidence  or  order  evidence  to  be  taken.  For  the  purpose  of  taking 
evidence  and  reporting  thereon,  the  Sub-Commissioners  may  appoint  Depu- 
ties, who  will,  without  delay,  submit  records  of  the  evidence  and  their 
reports  to  the  Sub- Commissioners.  The  Sub-Commissioners  will  arrange 
their  sittings  and  the  sittings  of  their  Deputies  in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford 
the  earliest  convenience  to  the  parties  concerned  and  their  witnesses.  In  no 
case  will  costs  be  allowed  to  either  side  other  than  the  actual  and  reasonable 
expenses  of  witnesses  whose  evidence  is  certified  by  the  Sub- Commissioners 
to  have  been  necessary.  Interest  will  not  run  on  the  amount  of  any  claim, 
except  as  is  hereinafter  provided  for.  The  said  Sub-Commissioners  will 
forthwith,  after  deciding  upon  any  claim,  announce  their  decision  to  the 
Government  against  which  the  award  is  made  and  to  the  claimant.  The 
amount  of  remuneration  payable  to  the  Sub-Commissioners  and  their  Depu- 
ties will  be  determined  by  the  High  Commissioners.  After  all  the  claims 
have  been  decided  upon,  the  British  Government  and  the  Government  of  the 
Transvaal  State  will  pay  proportionate  shares  of  the  said  remuneration  and  • 
of  the  expenses  of  the  said  Sub-Commissioners  and  their  Deputies,  according 
to  the  amount  awarded  against  them  respectively. 

Article  VIII. 

For  the  purpose  of  distingiiishing  claims  to  be  accepted  from  those  to  be 
rejected,  the  Sub-Commissioners  will  be  guided  by  the  following  rules,  viz.  : 
Compensation  to  be  allowed  for  losses  or  damage  sustained  by  reason  of  the 
following  acts  committod  during  the  recent  hostilities,  viz.  :  (a)  commandeer- 
ing, seizure,  confiscation,  or  destruction  of  property,  or  damage  done  to 
property  ;  {b)  violence  done  or  threats  used  by  persons  in  arms.  In  regard 
to  acts  under  (a),  compensation  will  be  allowed  for  direct  losses  only.  In 
regard  to  acts  falling  under  (b),  compensation  will  be  allowed  for  actual 
losses  of  property,  or  actual  injury  to  the  same  proved  to  have  been  caused 
by  its  enforced  abandonment.  No  claims  for  indirect  losses,  except  such  as 
are  in  this  Article  especially  provided  for,  will  be  entertained.  No  claims 
which  have  been  handed  in  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Commission  after 
the  1st  day  of  July,  1881,  will  be  entertained,  unless  the  Sub-Commissioners 
shall  be  satisfied  that  the  delay  was  reasonable.  AYhen  claims  for  loss  of 
property  are  considered,  the  Sub-Commissioners  will  require  distinct  proof  of 
the  existence  of  the  property,  and  that  it  neither  has  reverted  nor  will  revert 
to  the  claimant. 

Article  IX. 

The  Government  of  the  Transvaal  State  will  pay  and  satisfy  the  amount  of 
every  claim  awarded  against  it  within  one  month  after  the  Sub  Commissioners 
shall  have  notified  their  decision  to  the  said  Government,  and  in  default  of 
such  payment  the  said  Government  will  pay  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
cent,  per  annum  from  the  date  of  such  default ;  but  Her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment may  at  any  time  before  such  payment  pay  the  amount,  w"ith  interest, 
if  any,  to  the  claimant  in  satisfaction  of  his  claim,  and  may  add  the  sum 
thus  paid  to  any  debt  Avhich  may  be  due  by  the  Transvaal  State  to  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  as  hereinafter  provided  for. 


APPENDIX  A  293 

Article  X. 

The  Transvaal  State  will  be  liable  for  the  balance  of  the  debts  for  which 
the  South  African  Republic  was  liable  at  the  date  of  annexation,  to  wit,  tlie 
sum  of  £48,000  in  respect  of  the  Cape  Commercial  Bank  Loan,  and  £85,667 
in  res])ect  of  tlie  Railway  Loan,  together  with  the  amount  due  on.  8th  August, 
1881,  on  account  of  the  Orphan  Chamber  Debt,  which  now  stands  at  £22,200, 
\vhich  debts  will  be  a  first  charge  ui:)on  the  revenues  of  the  State.  The 
Transvaal  State  will,  moreover,  be  liable  for  the  lawful  expenditure  lawfully 
incurred  for  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  Province  since  the  annexation, 
to  wit,  the  sura  of  £265,000,  which  debt,  together  with  such  debts  as  may 
be  incurred  by  virtue  of  the  9th  Article,  will  be  a  second  charge  upon  the 
revenues  of  the  State. 

Article  XI. 

The  debts  due  as  aforesaid  by  the  Transvaal  State  to  Her  Majealy's 
Government  will  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  three  and  a  half  per  cent.,  and 
any  portion  of  such  debt  Avhich  may  remain  unpaid  at  the  expiration  of  twelve 
months  from  tlie  8th  August,  1881,  shall  be  repayable  by  a  p.ayment  for 
interest  and  sinking  fund  of  six  pounds  and  ninepence  per  cent,  per  annum, 
which  Avill  extinguish  the  debt  in  twenty-five  years.  The  said  payment  of 
six  pounds  and  ninepence  per  £100  shall  be  payable  half-yearly  in  British 
currency  on  the  8th  February  and  8th  August  in  each  year.  Provided  always 
that  the  Transvaal  State  shall  pay  in  reduction  of  the  said  debt  the  sura  of 
£100,000  within  twelve  months  of  the  8th  August,  1881,  and  shall  be  at 
liberty  at  the  close  of  any  half-year  to  pay  off  the  whole  or  any  portion  of  the 
outstanding  debt. 

Article  XII. 

All  persons  holding  property  in  the  said  State  on  the  8th  day  of  August, 
1881,  will  continue  after  the  said  date  to  enjoy  the  rights  of  property  which 
they  have  enjoyed  since  the  annexation.  No  person  who  has  remained  loyal 
to  Her  Majesty  during  the  recent  hostilities  shall  suffer  any  molestation  by 
reason  of  his  loyalty,  or  be  liable  to  any  criminal  prosecution  or  civil  action 
for  any  part  taken  in  connection  with  sirch  hostilities,  and  all  such  persons 
will  have  full  liberty  to  reside  in  the  country,  with  enjoyment  of  all  civil 
rights,  and  protection  for  their  persons  and  property. 

Article  XIII. 

Natives  will  be  allowed  to  acquire  land,  but  the  grant  or  transfer  of  such 
land  will,  in  every  case,  be  made  to  and  registered  in  the  name  of  the  Native 
Location  Commission,  hereinafter  mentioned,  in  trust  for  such  natives. 

Article  XIV. 

Natives  will  be  allowed  to  move  as  freely  within  the  country  as  may  bo 
consistent  with  the  requirements  of  jmblic  order,  and  to  leave  it  for  the 
purpose  of  seeking  employment  elsewhere  or  for  other  lawful  purposes,  subject 
always  to  the  pass  laws  of  the  said  State,  as  amended  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
Province,  or  as  may  hereafter  be  enacted  under  the  provisions  of  the  Third 
Article  of  this  Convention. 

Article  XV. 

There  will  continue  to  be  complete  freedom  of  religion  and  protection  from 
molestation  for  all  denominations,  provided  the  same  be  not  inconsistent  with 
morality  and  good  order,  and  no  disability  shall  attach  to  any  person  in 
regard  to  rights  of  property  by  reason  of  the  religious  opinions  which  he  holds. 


294  APPENDICES 

Article  XVI. 

The  provisions  of  the  Fourth  Article  of  the  Sand  River  Convention  are 
hereby  reaffirraod,  and  no  slavery  or  apprenticeship  partaking  of  slavery  will 
be  tolerated  by  the  Government  of  the  said  State. 

Article  XVII. 

The  British  Resident  will  receive  from  the  Government  of  the  Transvaal 
State  such  assistance  and  support  as  can  by  law  be  given  to  him  for  the  due 
discharge  of  his  fiinctions  ;  he  will  also  receive  every  assistance  for  the  proper 
care  and  preservation  of  the  graves  of  such  of  Her  Majesty's  forces  as  have 
died  in  the  Transvaal,  and  if  need  be  for  the  expropriation  of  land  for  the 
purpose. 

Article  XVIII. 

The  following  will  be  the  duties  and  functions  of  the  British  Resident : 

Sub -section  1. — He  will  perform  functions  and  duties  analogous  to  those 
discharged  by  a  Charge  d' Affaires  and  Consul-General. 

Sub-section  2. — In  regard  to  natives  within  the  Transvaal  State,  he  will 
(a)  report  to  the  High  Commissioner,  as  representative  of  the  Suzerain,  as  to 
the  working  and  observance  of  the  provisions  of  this  Convention  ;  (b)  report 
to  the  Transvaal  authorities  any  cases  of  ill-treatment  of  natives  or  attempts 
to  incite  natives  to  rebellion  that  may  come  to  his  knowledge  ;  (c)  use  his 
influence  Avith  the  natives  in  favour  of  law  and  order  ;  and  (d)  generally 
perform  such  other  duties  as  are  by  this  Convention  entrusted  to  him,  and 
take  such  steps  for  the  protection  of  the  person  and  property  of  natives  as  are 
consistent  with  the  laws  of  the  land. 

Sub  section  3. — In  regard  to  natives  not  residing  in  the  Transvaal,  {a)  he 
will  report  to  the  Higli  Commissioner  and  the  Transvaal  Government  any 
encroachments  reported  to  him  as  having  been  made  by  Transvaal  residents 
upon  the  land  of  such  natives,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  the 
Transvaal  Government  and  the  British  Resident  as  to  whether  an  encroach- 
ment had  been  made,  the  decision  of  the  Suzerain  will  be  final  ;  {b)  the  British 
Resident  will  be  the  medium  of  communication  with  native  chiefs  outside 
the  Transvaal,  and,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  High  Commissioner,  as 
representing  the  Suzerain,  he  will  control  the  conclusion  of  treaties  with 
them  ;  and  (c)  he  will,  arbitrate  upon  every  dispute  between  Transvaal 
residents  and  natives  outside  the  Transvaal  (as  to  acts  committed  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  Transvaal)  which  may  be  referred  to  him  by  the  parties 
interested. 

Sub-section  4. — In  regard  to  communications  with  foreign  Powers,  the 
Transvaal  Government  will  correspond  with  Her  Majesty's  Government 
through  the  British  Resident  and  the  High  Commissioner. 

Article  XIX. 

The  Government  of  the  Transvaal  State  will  strictly  adhere  to  the  bound- 
aries defined  in  the  First  Article  of  this  Convention,  and  will  do  its  utmost  to 
prevent  any  of  its  inhabitants  from  making  any  encroachment  upon  lands 
beyond  the  said  State.  The  Royal  Commission  will  forthwith  appoint  a 
person  who  will  beacon  off  the  boundary  line  between  Ramatlabama  and  the 
point  where  such  line  first  touches  Griqualand  West  boundary,  midway 
between  the  Vaal  and  Hart  rivers  ;  the  person  so  appointed  will  be  instructed 
to  make  an  arrangement  between  the  owners  of  the  farms  Grootfoutein  and 
Valleifontein  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Barolong  authorities  on  the  other,  by 
which  a  fair  share  of  the  water-supply  of  the  said  farms  shall  be  allowed  to 
flow  undisturbed  to  the  said  Barolongs. 


APPENDIX  A  295 

Article  XX. 

All  grants  or  titles  issued  at  any  time  by  the  Transvaal  Government  in 
respect  of  land  outside  the  boundary  of  Transvaal  State,  as  defined,  Article  I., 
shall  be  considered  invalid  and  of  no  effect,  except  in  so  far  as  any  such  grant 
or  title  relates  to  land  that  falls  Avithin  the  boundary  of  the  Transvaal  State, 
and  all  persons  holding  any  such  grant  so  considered  invalid  and  of  no  effect 
will  receive  from  the  Oovernment  of  the  Transvaal  State  such  compensation 
either  in  land  or  in  money  as  the  Volksraad  shall  determine.  In  all  cases  in 
which  any  native  cliiofs  or  other  authorities  outside  the  said  boundaries  have 
received  any  adequate  consideration  from  the  Government  of  the  former 
South  African  Republic  for  land  excluded  from  the  Transvaal  by  the  First 
Article  of  this  Convention,  or  where  permanent  improvements  have  been  made 
on  the  land,  the  P)ritish  Resident  will,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  High 
Commissioner,  use  his  influence  to  recover  from  the  native  authorities  fair 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  the  land  thus  excluded,  and  of  the  permanent 
improvement  thereon. 

Aeticle  XXI. 

Forthwith,  after  the  taking  effect  of  this  Convention,  a  Native  Location 
Commission  will  be  constituted,  consisting  of  the  President,  or  in  his  absence 
the  Vice-President  of  the  State,  or  someone  deputed  by  him,  the  Resident, 
or  someone  deputed  by  him,  and  a  third  person  to  be  agreed  upon  by  the 
President  or  the  Vice-President,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  the  Resident,  and 
such  Committee  will  be  a  standing  body  for  the  performance  of  the  duties 
hereinafter  mentioned. 

Article  XXII. 

The  Native  Location  Commission  will  reserve  to  the  native  tribes  of  the 
State  such  locations  as  they  may  be  fairly  and  equitably  entitled  to,  due 
regard  being  had  to  the  actual  occupation  of  such  tribes.  The  Native 
Location  Commission  will  clearly  define  the  boundaries  of  such  locations,  and 
for  that  purpose  will,  in  every  instance,  first  of  all  ascertain  the  wishes  of  the 
parties  interested  in  siich  land.  In  case  land  already  granted  in  individual 
titles  shall  be  required  for  the  purpose  of  any  location,  the  owners  will  receive 
such  compensation  either  in  other  land  or  in  money  as  the  Volksraad  shall 
determine.  After  the  boundaries  of  any  location  have  been  fixed,  no  fresh 
grant  of  land  within  such  location  will  be  made,  nor  will  the  boundaries  be 
altered  without  the  consent  of  the  Location  Commission.  No  fresh  grants  of 
land  will  be  made  in  the  districts  of  Waterberg,  Zoutpansberg,  and  Lydenburg 
until  the  locations  in  the  said  districts  respectively  shall  have  been  defined  by 
the  said  Commission. 

Article  XXIII. 

If  not  released  before  the  taking  effect  of  this  Convention,  Sikukuni,  and 
those  of  his  followers  who  have  been  imprisoned  with  him,  will  be  forthwith 
released,  and  the  boundaries  of  his  location  will  be  defined  by  the  Native 
Location  Commission  in  the  manner  indicated  in  the  last  preceding  Article. 

Article  XXIV. 

The  independence  of  the  Swazies  within  the  boundary  line  of  Swaziland,  as 
indicated  in  the  First  Article  of  this  Convention,  will  be  fully  recognised. 

Article  XXV. 

No  other  or  higher  duties  will  be  imposed  on  the  importation  into  the 
Transvaal  State  of  any  article  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  the  dominions 
and  possessions  of  Iler  Majesty,  from  whatever  place  arriving,  than  are  or  may 


296  APPENDICES 

be  payable  on  the  like  article  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  any  other  country, 
nor  will  any  prohibition  be  maintained  or  imposed  on  the  importation  of  any 
article  the  produce  or  manuf;icture  of  the  dominions  and  possessions  of  Her 
Majesty,  which  shall  not  equally  extend  to  the  importation  of  the  like  articles 
being  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  any  other  country. 

Article  XXVI. 

All  persons  other  than  natives  conforming  themselves  to  the  laws  of  the 
Transvaal  State  (a)  will  have  full  liberty  with  their  famijies  to  enter,  travel, 
or  reside  in  any  part  of  the  Transvaal  State  ;  (b)  they  will  be  entitled  to  hire 
or  possess  houses,  manufactures,  warehouses,  shops,  and  premises  ;  (c)  they 
may  carry  on  their  commerce  either  in  person  or  by  any  agents  whom  they 
may  think  fit  to  employ  ;  (d)  they  will  not  be  subject  in  respect  of  their  persons 
or  property,  or  in  respect  of  their  commerce  or  industry  to  any  taxes,  whether 
general  or  local,  other  than  those  which  are  or  may  be  imposed  upon  Transvaal 
citizens. 

Article  XXVII. 

All  inhabitants  of  the  Transvaal  shall  have  free  access  to  the  Courts  of 
Justice  for  the  protection  and  defence  of  their  rights. 

Article  XXVIII. 

All  persons  other  than  natives  who  established  their  domicile  in  the 
Transvaal  between  the  12th  day  of  April,  1877,  and  the  date  v;hen  this  Con- 
vention comes  into  effect,  and  who  shall  within  twelve  months  after  such 
last-mentioned  date  have  their  names  registered  by  the  Britisli  Resident, 
shall  be  exempt  from  all  compulsory  military  service  wliatever.  The  Resident 
shall  notify  such  registration  to  the  Government  of  the  Transvaal  State. 

Article  XXIX. 

Provision  shall  hereafter  be  made  by  a  separate  instrument  for  the  mutual 
extradition  of  criminals,  and  also  for  the  surrender  of  deserters  from  Her 
Majesty's  forces. 

Article  XXX. 

All  debts  contracted  since  the  annexation  will  be  payable  in  the  same 
currency  in  which  they  may  have  been  contracted  ;  all  uncancelled  postage 
and  other  revenue  stamps  issued  by  the  Government  since  the  annexation  will 
remain  valid,  and  will  be  accepted  at  their  present  value  by  the  future 
Government  of  the  State  ;  all  licenses  duly  issued  since  the  annexation  will 
remain  in  force  during  the  period  for  which  they  may  have  been  issued. 

Article  XXXI. 

No  grants  of  land  which  may  have  been  made,  and  no  transfer  of  mortgage 
which  may  have  been  passed  since  the  annexation,  will  be  invalidated  by 
reason  merely  of  their  having  been  made  or  passed  since  that  date.  All 
transfers  to  the  British  Secretary  for  Native  Affairs  in  trust  for  natives  will 
remain  in  force,  the  Native  Location  Commission  taking  the  place  of  such 
Secretary  for  Native  Affairs. 

Article  XXXII. 

This  Convention  will  be  ratified  by  a  newly-elected  Volksraad  within  the 
period  of  three  months  after  its  execution,  and  in  default  of  such  ratification 
this  Convention  shall  be  null  and  void. 


APPENDIX  A  297 

Article  XXXIII. 

Forthwith,  after  the  ratification  of  this  Convention,  as  in  the  last  preceding 
Article  mentioned,  all  British  troops  in  Transvaal  territoiy  will  leave  the 
same,  and  the  mutual  delivery  of  munitions  of  war  will  be  carried  out. 
Articles  end.  Here  will  follow  signatures  of  Royal  Commissioners,  then  the 
following  to  precede  signatures  of  triumvirate. 

We,  the  undersigned,  Stephanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger,  Martinus  Wessel 
Pretorius,  and  Petrus  Jacobus  Joubert,  as  representatives  of  the  Transvaal 
Burghers,  do  hereby  agree  to  all  the  above  conditions,  reservations,  and 
limitations  under  which  self-government  has  been  restored  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Transvaal  territory,  subject  to  the  suzerainty  of  Her  Majesty,  her  heirs 
and  successors,  and  we  agree  to  accept  the  Government  of  the  said  territory, 
with  all  rights  and  obligations  thereto  appertaining,  on  the  8th  day  of 
Augiist ;  and  we  promise  and  undertake  that  this  Convention  shall  be  ratified 
by  a  newly-elected  Volksraad  of  the  Transvaal  State  within  three  months 
from  this  date. 


APPENDIX  B 
LONDON  CONVENTION 

A  Convention  between  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United 
Kingdom    of  Great  Britain  and    Ireland    and    the    South 
•  African  Eepublio 

February,  1884. 

Whereas  the  Government  of  the  Transvaal  State,  through  its  Delegates, 
consisting  of  Stephanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger,  President  of  the  said  State, 
Stephanus  Jacobus  Du  Toit,  Superintendent  of  Education,  and  Nicholas 
Jacobus  Smit,  a  member  of  the  Volksraad,  have  represented  that  the  Con- 
vention signed  at  Pretoria  on  the  3rd  day  of  August,  1881,  and  ratified  by 
the  Volksraad  of  the  said  State  on  the  25th  October,  1881,  contains  certain 
provisions  which  are  inconvenient,  and  imposes  burdens  and  obligations  from 
which  the  said  State  is  desirous  to  be  relieved,  and  that  the  south-western 
boundaries  fixed  by  the  said  Convention  should  be  amended,  with  a  view  to 
promote  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  said  State,  and  of  the  countries 
adjacent  thereto  ;  and  whereas  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  has  been  pleased  to  take  the  said  repre- 
sentations into  consideration  :  Now,  therefore.  Her  Majesty  has  been  pleased 
to  direct,  and  it  is  hereby  declared,  that  the  following  articles  of  a  new 
Convention,  signed  on  behalf  of  Her  Majesty  by  Her  Majesty's  High  Com- 
missioner in  South  Africa,  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  Hercules  George  Robert 
Robinson,  Knight  Grand  Cross  of  the  Most  Distinguished  Order  of  St.  Michael 
and  St.  George,  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  on 
behalf  of  the  Transvaal  State  (which  shall  hereinafter  be  called  the  South 
African  Republic)  by  the  above-named  Delegates,  Ste^jhanus  Johannes  Paulus 
Kruger,  Stephanus  Jacobus  du  Toit,  and  Nicholas  Jacobus  Smit,  shall,  when 
ratified  by  the  Volksraad  of  the  South  African  Republic,  be  substituted  for 
Ihc  articles  embodied  in  the  Coivcntion  of  3rd  August,  1881  ;  which  latter, 
pending  such  ratification,  shall  continue  in  full  force  and  effect 


298  APPENDICES 

ARTICLES. 
Article  I. 

The  Territory  of  the  South  African  Republic  will  embrace  the  land  lying 
between  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit : 

Beginning  from  the  point  where  the  north-eastern  boundary  line  of  Griqua- 
land  West  meets  the  Vaal  River,  up  the  course  of  the  Vaal  River  to  the  point 
of  junction  with  it  of  the  Klip  River  ;  thence  up  the  course  of  the  Klip  River 
to  the  point  of  junction  with  it  of  the  stream  called  Gansvlci ;  thence  up  the 
Gansvlei  stream  to  its  source  in  the  Drakensberg  ;  thence  to  a  beacon  in  the 
boundary  of  Natal,  situated  immediately  opposite  and  close  to  the  source  of 
the  Gansvlei  stream  ;  thence  in  a  north-easterly  direction  along  the  ridge  of 
the  Drakensberg,  dividing  the  waters  flowing  into  the  Gansvlei  stream  from 
the  waters  flowing  into  the  sources  of  the  Bufl'alo,  to  a  beacon  on  a  point 
where  this  moimtain  ceases  to  be  a  continuous  chain  ;  thence  to  a  beacon  on 
a  plain  to  the  north-east  of  the  last  described  beacon  ;  thence  to  the  nearest 
source  of  a  small  stream  called  '  Division  Stream  ';  thence  down  this  division 
stream,  which  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  farm  Sandfontein,  the 
property  of  Messrs.  Meek,  to  its  junction  with  the  Coldstream  ;  thence  down 
the  Coldstream  to  its  junction  with  the  Buffalo  or  Umzinyati  River  ;  thence 
down  the  course  of  the  Buff"alo  River  to  the  junction  with  it  of  the  Blood 
River  ;  thence  up  the  course  of  the  Blood  River  to  the  junction  with  it  of 
Lyn  Spruit  or  Dudusi ;  thence  up  the  Dudusi  to  its  source  ;  thence  80  yards 
to  Bea.  I.,  situated  on  a  spur  of  the  N'Qaba-Ka-hawana  Mountains  ;  thence 
80  yards  to  the  N'Sonto  River  ;  thence  down  the  N'Sonto  River  to  its  junction 
with  the  White  Umvulozi  River  ;  thence  up  the  W^hite  Umvulozi  River  to 
a  white  rock  where  it  rises;  thence  800  yards  to  Kambula  Hill  (Bea.  II.)  ; 
thence  to  the  source  of  the  Pemvana  River,  where  the  road  from  Kambula 
Camp  to  Burgers'  Lager  crosses  ;  thence  down  the  Pemvana  River  to  its 
junction  with  the  Bivana  River  ;  thence  down  the  Bivana  River  to  its  junction 
with  the  Pongolo  River  ;  thence  down  the  Pongolo  River  to  where  it  passes 
through  the  Libombo  Range  :  thence  along  the  summits  of  the  Libombo 
Range  to  the  northern  point  of  the  N'Yawos  Hill  in  that  range  (Bea.  XVI.) ; 
thence  to  the  northern  peak  of  the  Inkwakweni  Hills  (Bea.  XV.) ;  thence  to 
Sefunda,  a  rocky  knoll  detached  from  and  to  the  north-east  end  of  the  White 
Koppies,  and  to  the  south  of  the  Musana  River  (Bea.  XIX.);  thence  to  a 
point  on  the  slope  near  the  crest  of  Matanjeni,  which  is  the  name  given  to  the 
south-eastern  portion  of  the  Mahamba  Hills  (Bea.  XIII.) ;  thence  to  the 
N'gwangwana,  a  double-pointed  hill  (one  point  is  bare,  the  other  wooded, 
the  beacon  being  on  the  former)  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Assegai  River  and 
upstream  of  the  Dadusa  Spruit  (Bea.  XII.) ;  thence  to  the  southern  point  of 
Bendita,  a  rocky  knoll  in  a  plain  between  the  Little  Hlozane  and  Assegai 
Rivers  (Bea.  XL);  thence  to  the  highest  point  of  Suluka  Hill,  round  the 
eastern  slopes  of  which  flows  the  Little  Hlozane,  also  called  Ludaka  or  Mud- 
spruit  (Bea.  X.);  thence  to  the  beacon  known  as  'Viljoen's,'  or  N'Duko 
Hill ;  thence  to  a  point  north-east  of  Derby  House,  known  as  Magwazidili's 
Beacon ;  thence  to  the  Igaba,  a  small  knoll  on  the  Ungwempisi  River,  also  called 
*  Joubert's  Beacon,'  and  known  to  the  natives  as  '  Piet's  Beacon  '  (Bea.  IX.) ; 
thence  to  the  highest  point  of  the  N'Dhlovudwalili  or  Houtbosch,  a  hill  on 
the  northern  bank  of  the  Umqwempisi  River  (Bea.  VIII.) ;  thence  to  a 
beacon  on  the  only  flat- topped  rock,  about  10  feet  high  and  about  30  yards  in 
circumference  at  its  base,  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Larasaniane  range 
of  hills,  and  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  great  Usuto  River  ;  this  rock  being 
45  yards  north  of  the  road  from  Camden  and  Lake  Banagher  to  the  forests  on 


APPENDIX  B  299 

the  Usuto  River  (sometimes  called  Sandhlanas  Beacon)  (Bea.  VII.)  ;  thence 
to  the  Gulungwana  or  Ibubulundi,  four  smooth  bare  hills,  the  highest  in  that 
neighbourhood,  situated  to  the  south  of  the  Uratuli  River  (Bea.  VI.) ;  thence 
to  a  flat-topped  rock,  8  feet  high,  on  the  crest  of  the  Busuku,  a  low  rocky 
range  south-west  of  the  Impulazi  River  (Bea.  V.)  ;  thence  to  a  low  bare  hill 
on  the  north-east  of,  and  overlooking  the  Impulazi  River,  to  the  south  of  it 
being  a  tributary  of  the  Impulazi,  with  a  considerable  waterfall,  and  the  road 
from  the  river  passing  200  yards  to  the  north-west  of  the  beacon  (Bea.  IV.)  ; 
thence  to  the  highest  point  of  the  Mapumula  range,  the  water-shed  of  the 
Little  Usuto  river  on  the  north,  and  the  Umpulazi  River  on  the  south ,  the 
hill,  the  top  of  which  is  a  bare  rock,  falling  abruptly  towards  the  Little  Usuto 
(Bea.  III.) ;  thence  to  the  western  point  of  a  double-pointed  rocky  hill,  pre- 
cipitous on  all  sides,  called  Makwana,  its  top  being  a  bare  rock  (Bea.  II.)  ; 
thence  to  the  top  of  a  rugged  hill  of  considerable  height  falling  abruptly  to 
the  Komati  River,  this  hill  being  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Isilotwani 
range,  and  separated  from  the  highest  peak  of  the  range  Inkomokazi  (a  sharp 
cone)  by  a  deep  neck  (Bea.  I.).  (On  a  ridge  in  the  straight  line  between 
Beacons  I.  and  II.  is  an  intermediate  beacon.)  From  Beacon  I.  the  boundary 
runs  to  a  hill  across  the  Komati  River,  and  thence  along  the  crest  of  the 
range  of  hills  known  as  the  Makongwa,  which  runs  north-cast  and  south-west, 
to  Kamhlubana  Peak  ;  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  Mananga,  a  point  in  the 
Libombo  range,  and  thence  to  the  nearest  point  in  the  Portuguese  frontier  on 
the  Libombo  range  ;  thence  along  the  summits  of  the  Libombo  range  to  the 
middle  of  the  poort  where  the  Komati  River  passes  through  it,  called  the 
lowest  Komati  Poort ;  thence  in  a  north  by  easterly  direction  to  Pokioens 
Kop,  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  Olifant's  River,  where  it  passes  through 
the  ridges  ;  thence  about  north-north-west  to  the  nearest  point  of  Serra  di 
Chicundo  ;  and  thence  to  the  junction  of  the  Pafori  River  with  the  Limpopo 
or  Crocodile  River  ;  thence  up  the  course  of  the  Limpopo  River  to  the  point 
where  the  Marique  River  falls  into  it.  Thence  up  the  course  of  the  Marique 
River  to  '  Derde  Poort, '  where  it  passes  through  a  low  range  of  hills,  called 
Sikwane,  a  beacon  (No.  10)  being  erected  on  the  spur  of  said  range  near  to, 
and  westward  of,  the  banks  of  the  river  ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  through 
this  beacon  to  a  beacon  (No.  9),  erected  on  the  top  of  the  same  range,  about 
1,700  yards  distant  from  beacon  No.  10  ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  to  a 
beacon  (No.  8)  erected  on  the  highest  point  of  an  isolated  hill,  called  Dikga- 
gong,  or  'Wildebeest  Kop,'  situated  south-eastward  of,  and  aboi;t  3 J  miles 
distant  from  a  high  hill,  called  Moripe  ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  to  a  beacon 
(No.  7)  erected  on  the  summit  of  an  isolated  hill  or  '  koppie  '  forming  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  range  of  hills  called  Moshweu,  situated  to  the 
northward  of,  and  about  two  miles  distant  from,  a  large  isolated  hill  called 
Chukudu-Chochwa  ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  to  a  beacon  (No.  6)  erected  on 
the  summit  of  a  hill  forming  part  of  the  same  range,  Moshweu  ;  thence,  in  a 
straight  line,  to  a  beacon  (No.  5)  erected  on  the  summit  of  a  pointed  hill  in 
the  same  range  ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  to  a  beacon  (No.  4)  erected  on  the 
summit  of  the  western  extremity  of  the  same  range  ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line, 
to  a  beacon  (No.  3)  erected  on  the  summit  of  the  northern  extremity  of  a  low, 
bushy  hill,  or  'koppie,'  near  to  and  eastward  of  the  Notwane  River  ;  thence, 
in  a  straight  line,  to  the  junction  of  the  stream  called  Metsi-Mashware  with 
the  Notwane  River  (No.  2)  ;  thence  up  the  course  of  the  Notwane  River  to 
Sengoma,  being  the  poort  where  the  river  passes  through  the  Dwarsberg 
range  ;  thence,  as  described  in  the  Award  given  by  Lieutenant-Governor 
Keate,  dated  October  17,  1871,  by  Pitlanganyane  (narrow  place),  Deboaganka 
or  Schaapkuil,  Sibatoul  (bare  place),  and  Maclase,  to  Eamatlabaraa,  a  pool  on 
a  ."Spruit  north  of  the  Molopo  River.     From  Ramatlabama  the  boundary  shall 


300  APPENDICES 

run  to  the  summit  of  an  isolated  hill  called  Leganka  ;  thence,  in  a  straight 
line,  passing  north-east  of  a  Native  Station,  near  'Buurman's  Drift,'  on  the 
Molopo  River,  to  that  point  on  the  road  from  Mosiega  to  the  old  drift,  where 
a  road  turns  out  through  the  Native  Station  to  the  new  drift  below  ;  thence 
to  'Buurman's  Old  Drift';  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  to  a  marked  and 
isolated  clump  of  trees  near  to  and  north-west  of  the  dwelling-house  of 
C.  Austin,  a  tenant  on  the  farm  '  Vleifontein,'  No.  117  ;  thence,  in  a  straight 
line,  to  the  north-western  corner  beacon  of  the  farm  '  Mooimeisjesfontein,' 
No.  30  ;  thence  along  the  western  line  of  the  said  farm  '  Mooimeisjesfontein,' 
and  in  prolongation  thereof  as  far  as  the  road  leading  from  '  Ludik's  Drift,* 
on  the  Molopo  River,  past  the  homestead  of  'Mooimeisjesfontein,'  towards 
the  Salt  Pans  near  Harts  River  ;  thence,  along  the  said  road,  crossing  the 
direct  road  from  Polfontein  to  Sehuba,  and  until  the  direct  road  from  Polfon- 
tein  to  Lotlakane  or  Pietfontein  is  reached  ;  thence,  along  the  southern  edge 
of  the  last-named  road  towards  Lotlakane,  until  the  first  garden  ground  of 
that  station  is  reached  ;  thence,  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  skirting  Lotla- 
kane, so  as  to  leave  it  and  all  its  garden  ground  in  native  territory,  until  the 
road  from  Lotlakane  to  Kunana  is  reached  ;  thence  along  the  east  side,  and 
clear  of  that  road  towards  Kunana,  until  the  garden  grounds  of  that  station 
are  reached  ;  thence,  skirting  Kunana,  so  as  to  include  it  and  all  its  garden 
ground,  but  no  more,  in  the  Transvaal,  until  the  road  from  Kunana  to 
Mamusa  is  reached  ;  thence,  along  the  eastern  side  and  clear  of  the  road 
towai-ds  Mamusa,  until  a  road  turns  out  towards  Taungs  ;  thence,  along  the 
eastern  side  and  clear  of  the  road  towards  Tanngs,  till  the  line  of  the  distnct 
known  as  '  Stellaland '  is  reached,  about  11  miles  from  Taungs  ;  thence  along 
the  line  of  the  district  Stellaland  to  the  Harts  River,  about  24  miles  below 
Mamusa  ;  thence,  across  Harts  River,  to  the  junction  of  the  roads  from 
Monthe  and  Phokwane  ;  thence,  along  the  western  side  and  clear  of  thj^ 
nearest  road  towards  '  Koppie  Enkel,' an  isolated  hill  about  36  miles  from 
Mamusa,  and  about  18  miles  north  of  Christiana,  and  to  the  summit  of  the 
said  hill ;  thence,  in  a  straight  line,  to  that  point  on  the  north-east  boundary 
of  Griqualand  West  as  beaconed  by  Mr.  Surveyor  Ford,  where  two  farms, 
registered  as  Nos.  72  and  75,  do  meet,  about  midway  between  the  Vaal  and 
Harts  Rivers,  measiired  along  the  said  boundary  of  Griqualand  West ;  thence 
to  the  first  point  where  the  north-east  boundary  of  Griqualand  West  meets 
the  Vaal  River. 

Article  IL 

The  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic  will  strictly  adhere  to  the 
boundaries  defined  in  the  first  Article  of  this  Convention,  and  will  do  its 
utmost  to  prevent  any  of  its  inhabitants  from  making  any  encroachments 
upon  lands  beyond  the  said  boundaries.  The  Government  of  the  South 
African  Repiiblic  will  appoint  Commissioners  upon  the  eastern  and  western 
borders,  whose  duty  it  will  be  strictly  to  guard  against  irregularities  and  all 
trespassing  over  the  boundaries.  Her  Majesty's  Government  will,  if  neces- 
sary, appoint  Commissioners  in  the  native  territories  outside  the  eastern  and 
western  borders  of  the  South  African  Republic  to  maintain  order  and  prevent 
encroachments. 

Her  Majesty's  Government  and  the  Government  of  the  South  African 
Republic  will  each  appoint  a  person  to  proceed  together  to  beacon  off  the 
araended  south-west  boundary  as  described  in  Article  1  of  this  Convention  ; 
and  the  President  of  the  Orange  Free  State  shall  be  requested  to  appoint  a 
referee  to  whom  the  said  persons  shall  refer  any  questions  on  which  they  may 
disagree  respecting  the  interpretation  of  the  said  Article,  and  tlie  decision  of 
such  referee  thereon  shall  be  final.    The  arrangement  already  made,  under  the 


APPENDIX  B  301 

terms  of  Article  19  of  the  Convention  of  Pretoria,  of  the  3rd  Augnst,  1881, 
between  the  owners  of  the  farms  Grootfontein  and  Yalleifontein  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  Barolong  authorities  on  tlie  other,  by  which  a  fair  share  of  the 
water-supply  of  the  said  farms  shall  be  allowed  to  flow  undisturbed  to  the 
said  Barolongs,  shall  continue  in  force. 

Article  III. 
If  a  British  officer  is  appointed  to  reside  at  Pretoria  or  elsewhere  within  the 
South  African  Republic  to  discharge  functions  analogous  to  those  of  a  Consular 
oflicer,  he  will  receive  the  protection  and  assistance  of  the  Republic. 

Article  IV. 

The  South  African  Republic  will  conclude  no  treaty  or  engagement  with 
any  State  or  nation  other  than  the  Orange  Free  State,  nor  with  any  native 
tribe  to  the  eastward  or  westward  of  the  Republic,  until  the  same  has  been 
approved  by  Her  Majesty  tlie  Queen. 

Such  approval  shall  be  considered  to  have  been  granted  if  Her  Majesty's 
Government  shall  not,  within  six  months  after  receiving  a  copy  of  such  treaty 
(which  shall  be  delivered  to  them  inmiediately  upon  its  completion),  have 
notified  that  the  conclusion  of  such  treaty  is  in  conllict  with  the  interests  of 
Great  Britain  or  of  any  of  Her  Majesty's  possessions  in  South  Africa. 

Article  V. 
The  South  African  Republic  will  be  liable  for  any  balance  which  may  still 
remain  due  of  the  debts  for  which  it  was  liable  at  the  date  of  Annexation — 
to  wit,  the  Cape  Commercial  Bank  Loan,  the  Railway  Loan,  and  the  Orphan 
Chamber  Debt — which  debts  will  be  a  first  charge  upon  tlie  revenues  of  tlie 
Republic.  The  South  African  Republic  will,  moreover,  be  liable  to  Her 
Majesty's  Government  for  £250,000,  which  will  be  a  second  charge  upon  the 
revenues  of  the  Republic. 

Article  VI. 

The  debt  due  as  aforesaid  by  the  South  African  Republic  to  Her  Majesty's 
Government  will  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  three  and  a  half  per  cent,  from 
the  date  of  the  ratification  of  this  Convention,  and  shall  be  repayable  by  a 
payment  for  interest  and  Sinking  Fund  of  six  pounds  and  ninepence  per  £100 
per  annum,  which  will  extinguish  the  debt  in  twenty-five  years.  The  said 
payment  of  six  pounds  and  ninepence  per  £100  shall  be  payable  half-yearly 
in  British  currency  at  the  close  of  each  half-year  from  the  date  of  such  ratifi- 
cation :  Provided  always  that  the  South  African  Republic  shall  be  at  liberty 
at  the  close  of  any  half-year  to  pay  oft"  the  whole  or  any  pcrtion  of  the  oat- 
standing  debt. 

Interest  at  the  rate  of  three  and  a  half  per  cent,  on  the  debt  as  standing 
under  the  Convention  of  Pretoria  shall  as  heretofore  be  paid  to  the  date  of  the 
ratification  of  this  Convention. 

Article  VII. 
All  persons  who  held  property  in  the  Transvaal  on  the  8th  day  of  August, 
1881,  and  still  hold  the  same,  will  continue  to  enjoy  the  rights  of  property 
which  they  have  enjoyed  since  the  12th  April,  187^7.  'No  person  who  has 
remained  loyal  to  Her  Majesty  during  the  late  hostilities  shall  suffer  any 
molestation  by  reason  of  his  loyalty  ;  or  be  liable  to  any  criminal  prosecution 
or  civil  action  for  any  part  taken  in  connection  with  such  hostilities  ;  and  all 
such  persons  will  have  full  liberty  to  reside  in  tlie  country,  with  enjoyment  of 
all  civil  rights,  and  protection  for  their  persons  and  property. 


302  APPENDICES 

Article  VIII. 

The  South  African  Republic  renews  the  declaration  made  in  the  Sand  River 
Convention,  and  in  the  Convention  of  Pretoria,  that  no  slavery  or  apprentice- 
ship partaking  of  slavery  will  be  tolerated  by  the  Government  of  the  said 
Republic. 

Article  IX. 

There  will  continue  to  be  complete  freedom  of  religion  and  protection  from 
molestation  for  all  denominations,  provided  the  same  be  not  inconsistent  with 
morality  and  good  order  ;  and  no  disability  shall  attach  to  any  person  in 
regard  to  rights  of  property  by  reason  of  the  religious  opinions  which  he  holds. 

Article  X. 

The  British  Officer  appointed  to  reside  in  the  South  African  Republic  will 
receive  every  assistance  from  the  Government  of  the  said  Republic  in  making 
due  provision  for  the  proper  care  and  preservation  of  the  graves  of  such  of 
Her  Majesty's  Forces  as  have  died  in  the  Ti-ansvaal ;  and,  if  need  be,  for  the 
appropriation  of  land  for  the  purpose. 

Article  XI. 
All  grants  or  titles  issued  at  any  time  by  the  Transvaal  Government  in 
respect  of  land  outside  the  boundary  of  the  South  African  Republic,  as  defined 
in  Article  I. ,  shall  be  considered  invalid  and  of  no  effect,  exce})t  in  so  far  as 
any  such  grant  or  title  relates  to  land  that  falls  within  the  boundary  of  the 
South  African  Republic  ;  and  all  persons  holding  any  such  grant  so  considered 
invalid  and  of  no  effect  will  receive  from  the  Government  of  the  South 
African  Republic  such  compensation,  either  in  land  or  in  money,  as  the  Volks- 
raad  shall  detennine.  In  all  cases  in  which  any  Native  Chiefs  or  other 
authorities  outside  the  said  boundaries  have  received  any  adequate  considera- 
tion from  the  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic  for  land  excluded 
from  the  Transvaal  by  the  first  Article  of  this  Convention,  or  where  permanent 
improvements  have  been  made  on  the  land,  the  High  Commissioner  will 
recover  from  the  native  authorities  fair  compensation  for  the  loss  of  the  land 
thus  excluded,  or  of  the  permanent  improvements  thereon. 

Article  XII. 

The  independence  of  the  Swazis,  within  the  boundary  line  of  Swaziland,  as 
indicated  in  the  first  Article  of  this  Convention,  will  be  fully  recognised. 

Article  XIII. 

Except  in  pursuance  of  any  treaty  or  engagement  made  as  provided  in 
Article  4  of  this  Convention,  no  other  or  higher  duties  shall  be  imposed  on 
the  importation  into  the  South  African  Republic  of  any  article  coming  from 
any  part  of  Her  Majesty's  dominions  than  are  or  may  be  imposed  on  the  like 
article  coming  from  any  other  place  or  country  ;  nor  will  any  prohibition  be 
maintained  or  imposed  on  the  importation  into  the  South  African  Republic  of 
any  article  coming  from  any  part  of  Her  Majesty's  dominions  which  shall  not 
equally  extend  to  the  like  article  coming  from  any  other  place  or  country. 
And  in  like  manner  the  same  treatment  shall  be  given  to  any  article  coming 
to  Great  Britain  from  the  South  Afiican  Republic  as  to  the  like  article  coming 
from  any  other  place  or  country. 

These  provisions  do  not  preclude  the  consideration  of  special  arrangements 
as  to  import  duties  and  commercial  relations  between  the  South  African 
Republic  and  any  of  Her  Majesty's  colonies  or  possessions. 


APPENDIX  B  303 

Article  XIV. 
All  persons,  other  than  natives,  conforming  themselves  to  the  laws  of  the 
South  African  Republic  (a)  will  have  full  liberty,  with  their  families,  to  enter, 
travel,  or  reside  in  any  part  of  the  South  African  Republic  ;  (6)  they  will  be 
entitled  to  hive  or  possess  houses,  manufactories,  warehouses,  sliops,  and 
premises  ;  (c)  they  may  carry  on  their  commerce  either  in  person  or  by  any 
agents  whom  they  may  think  fit  to  employ  ;  (d)  they  will  not  be  subject,  in 
respect  of  their  persons  or  property,  or  in  respect  of  their  commerce  or  industry, 
to  any  taxes,  whether  general  or  local,  other  than  those  which  are  or  may  be 
imposed  upon  citizens  of  the  said  Republic. 

Article  XV. 
All  persons,  other  than  natives,  who  established  their  domicile  in  the  Trans- 
vaal between  the  12th  day  of  April,  1877,  and  the  8th  August,  1881,  and  who 
within  twelve  montiis  after  such  last-mentioned  date  have  had  their  names 
registered  by  the  British  Resident,  shall  be  exempt  from  all  compulsory 
military  service  whatever. 

Article  XVI. 
Provision  shall  hereafter  be  made  by  a  separate  instrument  for  the  mutual 
extradition  of  criminals,  and  also  for  the  surrender  of  deserters  from  Her 
Majesty's  Forces. 

Article  XVII. 
All  debts  contracted  between  the  12th  April,  1877,  and  the  8th  August, 
1881,  will  be  payable  in  the  same  currency  in  which  they  may  have  been  cou- 
tracted. 

Article  XVIII. 

No  grants  of  land  which  may  have  been  made,  and  no  transfers  or  mort- 
gages which  may  have  been  passed  between  the  12th  April,  1877,  and  the 
8th  August,  1881,  will  be  invalidated  by  reason  merely  of  their  having  been 
made  or  passed  between  such  dates. 

All  transfers  to  the  British  Secretary  for  Native  Ail'airs  in  trust  for  natives 
will  remain  in  force,  an  officer  of  the  South  African  Republic  taking  the  place 
of  such  Secretary  for  Native  Aifairs. 

Article  XIX. 
The  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic  will  engage  faithfully  to 
fulfil  the  assurances  given,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  South  African 
Republic,  to  the  natives  at  the  Pretoria  Pitso  by  the  Royal  Commission  in  the 
presence  of  the  Triumvirate  and  with  their  entire  assent,  (1)  as  to  the  freedom 
of  the  natives  to  buy  or  otherwise  acquire  land  under  certain  conditions,  {2j 
as  to  tlie  appointment  of  a  commission  to  mark  out  native  locations,  (3)  as  to 
the  access  of  the  natives  to  the  courts  of  law,  and  (4)  as  to  their  being  allowed 
to  move  freely  within  the  country,  or  to  leave  it  for  any  legal  purpose,  under 
a  pass  system. 

Article  XX. 

This  Convention  will  be  ratified  by  a  Volksraad  of  the  South  African 
Republic  within  the  period  of  six  months  after  its  execution,  and  in  default  of 
sucli  ratification  this  Convention  shall  be  null  and  void. 

Signed  in  duplicate  in  London  this  27th  day  of  February,  1884- 

HERCULES  ROBINSON 
S.  J.  P.  KRUGER. 
S.  J.  DU  TO  IT. 
N.  J.  SMIT. 


304  APPENDICES 

APPENDIX  G 

PRESIDENT  KRUGER'S  AFFAIRS  IN  THE  RAADS 

1889. 

Pkesident. 

July. — His  Honour  accepts  a  loan  of  £7,000  from  the  State  funds  at  2^  per 
cent,  interest  (current  rate  being  about  6  per  cent.). 

1890. 
July  4. — The  President  said  :  Mr.  Taljaard  yesterday  threw  in  my  teeth 
that  I  took  advantage  of  my  position  to  benefit  my  own  relatTons.  I  assure 
you  that  I  have  not  done  anything  of  the  kind.  Unfortunately,  one  of  my 
relatives  who  is  a  speculator  has  got  a  concession,  which  I  am  in  duty 
bound  to  carry  out.  But  I  aHA  deeply  grieved  that  Mr.  Taljaard  said  w'hat 
he  did  say.  In  future,  I  can  assure  you  not  a  single  member  of  my  family 
sliall  receive  a  h:ing]e  office.  I  will  not  even  make  one  of  them  a  constable. 
I  have  children  myself,  but  I  have  left  them  on  the  farm  rather  than  put 
them  in  office  to  draw  money  from  the  State. 

1891. 
May. — In  answer  to  a  request  that  President  Kruger  would  allow  his  name  to 
be  used  as  patron  of  a  ball  in  honour  of  Her  Majesty's  birthday  : 

Sir, 

In  reply  to  your  favour  of  the  12th  instant,  requesting  me  to  ask  His 
Honour  the  State  President  to  consent  to  his  name  being  used  as  a  patron 
of  a  ball  to  be  given  at  Johannesburg  on  the  26th  inst.,  I  have  been 
instructed  to  inform  you  that  His  Honour  considers  a  ball  as  Baal's  service, 
for  which  reason  the  Lord  ordered  Moses  to  kill  all  offenders  ;  and  as  it  is 
therefore  contrary  to  His  Honour's  principles,  His  Honour  cannot  consent 
to  the  misuse  of  his  name  in  such  connection. 

I  have,  etc., 

F.  Eloff, 
1892.  Ft.  Secretary. 

FIRST  RAAD. 

Pkesident. 

May  24.  — It  was  resolved  that  a  dam  be  constructed  on  the  President's  farm 
'  Geduld '  at  a  cost  of  £4,500,  at  the  expense  of  the  Treasury. 

SECOND  RAAD. 

The  Public  Works  Department  report  that  the  road  across  the  President's 
farm  'Geduld,'  estimated  to  cost  £1,500,  had  actually  cost  £5,000.  Mr. 
Meyer  stated  that  this  road  was  of  absolutely  no  use  to  anyone  but  the  owner 
of  the  farm  ! 

FIRST  RAAD. 

June  15. — Letter  from  Mr.  Mare,  Deacon,  on  behalf  of  the  United  Church, 
Pretoria,  complaining  that  of  the  twelve  erven  given  by  Government  to  the 
Church,  they  had  been  deprived  of  four,  which  had  been  handed  over  to  the 
President's  Church,  the  Gerevoormede  or  Dopper,  and  two  of  these  had 
again  been  transferred  to  the  President  himself. 

June  16. — After  a  lengthy  discussion  it  was  resolved  that  the  President  18 ■ 
entirely  exonerated.     The  Raad  further  expressed  its  disapproval  of  this 


APPENDIX  D  305 

conduct  of  a  Christian  Church,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  foster  Christian 
love,  and  set  an  example  to  the  burghers. 

FIRST  RAAD. 

August  2. — A  memorial  was  read  from  Lichtenburg,  praying  for  a  stringent 
investigation  into  the  Report  of  the  Estimates  Committee  of  1890,  in  which 
it  was  stated  tliat  of  £140,000  spent  on  the  Pretoria  streets,  vouchers  for 
£22,000  were  missing.  The  Raad  decided,  on  the  President's  stating  that 
nothing  was  wrong  with  the  accounts,  to  send  the  memorialists  a  copy  of 
the  resolution  of  last  year. 

1893. 

Jicly  17. — The  President  said  it  was  simply  murdering  the  erection  of 
factories  to  say  there  should  be  no  concessions.  He  denied  that  factories 
could  be  e'"ected  without  concessions.  If  the  Raad  wished  to  throw  out  all 
concessions,  well  and  good.  That  simply  meant  the  fostering  of  industries 
in  other  countries. 

STANDS   SCANDAL.^ 

August  3. — The  President  said  that  speculation,  when  fairly  conducted,  was 
justifiable,  and  the  Government  had  acted  according  to  the  circumstances, 
and  in  the  interests  of  the  State.  The  Government  had  no  private  interests 
in  view,  but  thought  the  sale  was  quite  justifiable. 

The  Minister  of  Mines  was  then  attacked  for  granting  stands  to  Raad 
officials  when  higher  offers  had  been  made. 

APPENDIX  D 

VOLKSEAAD  DEBATES 

Extracts  from  the  Pullished  Reports 

1889. 

May  8. — On  the  application  of  the  Sheba  G.  M.  Co.  for  permission  to  erect  an 
aerial  tram  from  the  mine  to  the  mill, 

Mr.  Groblaar  asked  whether  an  aerial  tram  was  a  balloon,  or  whether 
it  could  fly  through  the  air. 

The  only  objection  that  the  Chairman  had  to  urge  against  granting  the 
tram  was  that  the  Company  had  an  English  name,  and  that  with  so  many 
Dutch  ones  available. 

Mr.  Taljaard  objected  to  the  word  '  participeeren  '  (participate)  as  not 
being  Dutch,  and  to  him  unintelligible  :  '  I  can't  believe  the  word  is  Dutch. 
Why  have  I  never  come  across  it  in  the  Bible,  if  it  is  ?' 
June  18.  — On  the  application  for  a  concession  to  treat  tailings, 

Mr.  Taljaard  wished  to  know  if  the  words  '  pyrites  '  and  '  concentrates  ' 
could  not  be  translated  into  the  Dutch  language.  He  could  not  understand 
what  it  meant.  He  had  gone  to  night-school  as  long  as  he  had  been  in 
Pretoria,  and  even  now  he  could  not  explain  everything  to  his  burghers. 
He  thought  it  a  shame  that  big  hills  should  be  made  on  ground  under 
which  there  might  be  rich  reefs,  and  which  in  future  might  be  required  for 
a  market  or  outspan.     He  would  support  the  recommendation  on  condition 

1  By  this  name  is  known  the  series  of  transactions  in  which  Government 
land  in  Johannesburg  was  sold  out  of  hand  to  certain  private  individuals  at  a 
nominal  figure,  many  thousands  of  pounds  below  the  then  market  value. 

20 


-    M 
306  APPENDICES 

that  the  name  of  the  quartz  should  be  translated  into  Dutch,  as  there 
might  be  more  in  this  than  some  of  them  imagined. 

REDUCTION   OF   IMrORT   DUTIES   ON   EATABLES. 

June  20. — Mr.  Wolmarans  said  the  diggers  simply  did  not  want  to  buy 
from  the  Boers  ;  there  was  plenty  of  meat  and  bread  in  the  land,  and  the 
Boers  could  not  get  good  prices  for  their  cattle. 

Mr.  Van  Heerden  could  not  see  how  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  would 
benefit  in  the  least  by  lowering  the  tariff. 

Messrs.  Lombaard  and  Wolmarans  both  declared  that  when  duties  were 
at  their  highest,  groceries,  etc.,  were  at  their  cheapest. 

Mr.  Taljaard  thought  that  members  who  were  in  favour  of  lowering  the 
tariff  did  not  act  for  the  benefit  of  the  country. 

1890. 

May  29. — A  discussion  of  considerable  length  took  place  on  a  petition  from 
burghers  of  Gatsrand,  Potchefstroom  district,  praying  that  at  least  two- 
thii'ds  of  the  Government  money  now  lying  idle  in  the  banks  should  be 
given  out  to  agriculturists  as  loans,  and  the  remainder  for  other  pm-poses. 

July  2. — His  Honour  was  asked  why  he  did  not  suppress  all  sweepstaJi.es  and 
races. 

The  President  said  gambling  and  lotteries  were  in  conflict  with  the 
Word  of  God,  but  it  was  also  the  duty  of  man  to  have  exercise,  and  to 
exercise  his  horses.  For  that  reason  an  exception  had  been  made  in  the 
Bill  as  to  horse-races,  etc. 

increase  of  officials'  salaries. 
July  7. — The  President  supported  the  increase.     He  promised  the  Raad — 
and  he  had  done  this  before — that  whenever  there  was  a  falling  off  in  the 
revenue,  he  would  at  once  reduce  the  salaries.    He  had  said  tliis  before,  and 
if  members  did  not  believe  him,  let  them  call  him  a  liar  at  once. 

1891. 
SECOND  RAAD. 

Ju7ie  5. — Mr.  Esselen  objected  to  minutes  not  being  full  enough. 

Mr.  Taljaard  accused  Mr.  Esselen  of  insulting  the  Raad. 

A  discussion  ensued  on  minutes,  in  which  certain  proposals  which  had 
been  rejected  had  not  been  incorporated.  Several  members  said  that  the 
incorporation  of  proposals  that  had  been  rejected  would  entail  some  members 
being  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the  public. 

estimates. 

Ju7ie  24. — Two  hundred  vouchers  were  found  to  be  missing  from  the  yearly 
accounts,  and  no  explanation  could  be  given.  Also  £13,000  had  been  given 
on  loan  to  the  Boeren  Winkel  (Boer  General  Store — a  private  mercantile 
venture). 

July  27. — Mr.  Mare  maintained  that  the  Public  Works  were  badly  adminis- 
tered. 

The  President  dashed  down  the  papers  in  front  of  him  and  stalked  out 
of  the  Raad,  after  emphatically  denying  that  money  had  been  wasted. 

July  27. — At  the  debate  on  the  question  of  appointing  a  State  financier,  who 
could,  among  other  tilings,  be  held  responsible  for  the  disappearance  of 
vouchers,  the  Auditor-General  said  that  he  did  not  want  an  official  of  that 
nature,  who  would  be  always  snivelling  about  his  books. 


APPENDIX  D  307 

CLAUSE   TWENTY-THREE   OF   THE  GOLD   LAW. 

August  5. — The  President  said  that  owners  of  properties  had  quite  suflBcient 
privileges  already,  and  he  did  not  want  to  give  them  more. 

Mr.  LoMBAAiiD  said  the  Gold  Fields  Avanted  too  much.  The  revenue 
from  the  Gold  Fields  was  already  less  than  the  expenditure.  He  was  of 
opinion  that  the  best  course  would  be  to  let  the  Gold  Fields  go  to  the  devil 
and  look  after  themselves. 

1892. 
SECOND  RAAD. 

May  6. — Protracted  discussion  arose  on  the  Postal  Report,  the  Conservatives 
being  opposed  to  erecting  pillar-boxes  in  Pretoria  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  extravagant  and  eti'eminate. 

OoM  Dyle  (Mr.  Taljaard)  said  that  he  could  not  see  why  people  wanted 
to  be  always  writing  letters.  He  wrote  none  himself.  In  the  days  of  his 
youth  he  had  written  a  letter,  and  had  not  been  afraid  to  travel  fifty  miles 
and  more  on  horseback  and  by  waggon  to  post  it ;  and  now  people  com- 
plained if  they  had  to  go  one  mile. 

FIRST  RAAD. 

May  21. — On  the  question  of  abolishing  the  post  of  Minute-Keeper  to  the 
Executive  the  President  fell  into  a  passion  with  Mr.  Loveday,  who  thought 
a  Minute- Keeper  unnec'^ssary,  and  left  the  Raad  in  a  temper. 

June  13. — The  President  said  the  reason  why  he  did  not  subsidize  some 
j)apeTS  by  giving  them  advertisements  was  that  they  did  not  defend  the 
Government.  It  was  the  rule  everywhere  to  give  advertisements  to  papers 
which  supported  the  Government. 

president  and  general. 

July  21. — General  Joubert  tenders  his  resignation  as  Chairman  of  the 
Chicago  Exhibition  Committee.  He  had  written  again  and  again  to  the 
President  and  State  Secretary  for  an  intimation  of  the  Government's  inten- 
tion with  regard  to  the  amount  on  the  Estimates,  but  his  communications 
were  treated  with  silent  contempt. 

The  President  made  a  long  speech,  in^which  he  said  he  felt  great  grief 
at  being  thus  falsely  charged  by  the  General,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Executive.  Still,  he  would  only  bless  those  who  spitefully  used  him,  and 
would  not  blacken  the  General. 

SECOND  RAAD. 

July  21.  — After  the  resolution  had  been  taken  on  Mr.  Van  Niekerk's  proposition 
regarding  compensation  for  claims  not  yet  worked  out  (Clause  60  of  Gold 
Law),  the  President  was  still  speaking,  and  objecting  to  the  recording  of 
Van  Niekerk's  objection  to  the  passing  of  the  Gold  Law  Clause  Amendment, 
when  Mr.  Esselen  called  *  Order,  Order  !'  several  times. 

The  President  said  he  was  insulted  by  Mr.  Esselen,  and  would  with- 
draw unless  he  apologized. 

The  Raad  adjomned,  as  Mr.  Esselen  refused. 

FIRST  RAAD. 
locust  extermination. 

July  21. — Mr.  Roos  said  locusts  were  a  plague,  as  in  the  days  of  King  Pharaoh, 
sent  by  God,  and  the  country  would  assuredly  be  loaded  with  shame  and 
obloquy  if  it  tried  to  raise  its  hand  against  the  mighty  hand  of  the  Almighty. 

20—2 


808  APPENDICES 

Messrs.  Declerq  and  Steenkamp  spoke  in  the  same  strain,  quoting 
largely  from  the  Scriptures. 

The  Chairman  related  a  true  story  of  a  man  whose  farm  was  always 
spared  by  the  locusts,  until  one  day  he  caused  some  to  be  killed.  His  farm 
was  then  devastated. 

Mr.  Stoop  conjured  the  members  not  to  constitute  themselves  terrestrial 
gods  and  oppose  the  Almighty. 

Mr.  Lucas  Meyer  raised  a  dtorm  by  ridiculing  the  arguments  of  the 
former  speakers,  and  comparing  the  locusts  to  beasts  of  prey  which  they 
destroyed. 

Mr.  Labuschagne  was  violent.  He  said  the  locusts  were  quite  different 
from  beasts  of  prey.  They  were  a  special  plague  sent  by  God  for  their  sin- 
fulness. 
July  26. — Mr.  De  Beer,  attacking  the  railways,  said  they  were  already 
beginning  to  eat  the  bitter  fruits  of  them.  He  was  thinking  of  trekking  to 
Damaraland,  and  his  children  would  trek  still  further  into  the  wilderness, 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  iron  horse. 
August  16. — Mr.  De  Beer  said  he  saw  where  all  the  opposition  to  duties 
came  from.     It  was  English  blood  boiling  to  protect  English  manufactures. 

1893. 

June  21. — A  memorial  was  read  from  certain  burghers  of  "Water berg  about 
children  beating  their  parents,  and  praying  that  such  children  should  not 
be  allowed  to  become  officials  of  the  State  or  sit  in  Volksraad  ! 

Mr.  De  Beer,  the  Member  for  Waterberg,  who  in  the  days  of  his  hot 
youth  is  said  to  have  given  his  father  a  sound  thrashing,  and  is  the  one 
aimed  at  by  the  memorialists,  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  memorial. 

charlestown  extension. 

August  24. — Mr.  Wolmarans  opposed  the  line,  as  it  would  compete  with  the 
Delagoa  Bay  Railway,  for  which  the  State  was  responsible. 

Mr.  Le  Clerq  maintained  that  the  Cape  Free  State  line  was  against  the 
interests  of  the  burghers,  as  a  tremendous  number  of  cattle  were  brought 
into  the  State  from  outside  countries. 

Mr.  Malan  said  he  would  never  vote  for  this  line. 

Mr.  Rocs  referred  to  the  sacred  voice  of  the  people,  which  he  said  was 
against  railways. 

The  extension  was  eventually  approved  of. 

1894. 

FIRST  RAAD. 

May  14. — A  debate  took  place  upon  the  clause  that  members  should  appear 
in  the  House  clad  in  broadcloth  and  having  white  neckties. 

Mr.  Jan  de  Beer  complained  of  the  lack  of  uniformity  in  neckties. 
Some  wore  a  Tom  Thumb  variety,  and  others  wore  scarves.  This  was  a 
state  of  things  to  be  deplored,  and  he  considered  that  the  Raad  should  put 
its  foot  down  and  define  the  size  and  shape  of  neckties. 

jam  concession. 

August  20. — The  President  said  he  was  against  concessions  generally  speak- 
ing, but  there  were  cases  where  exceptions  should  be  made.  There  was, 
for  instance,  the  Jam  Concession.  The  manufacture  of  jam  ought  to  be 
protected. 


APPENDIX  D  309 

REDUCTION   OF   POSTAGE   FROM   TWOPENCE  TO   ONE   PENNY  THROUGHOUT   THE 

REPUBLIC. 

August  22. — Mr.  Wor.>fARAN^  opposed  the  reduction,  saying  the  Postal 
Department  would  probably  show  a  deficit  at  the  end  of  the  year.  And 
besides,  who  would  benefit  ?     Certainly  not  the  farmers. 

Mr.  LoMBAARP  also  was  against  the  reduction. 

Mr.  De  la  Rky  said  speculators  could  afford  to  pay  the  present  rates  of 
postage,  and  as  the  reduction  would  only  benefit  the  townspeople,  let  matters 
remain  unaltered.  If  he  resided  in  a  town  and  speculated  he  would  be  able 
to  pay  twopence. 

Mr.  ScHUTTE  said  the  Postal  Department  was  run  at  a  loss  at  present, 
and  if  they  further  reduced  the  tariff  things  would  go  very  badly  with  them. 

Reduction  rejected,  13  to  9. 

INCREASE   OF   REPRESENTATION. 

September  6. — The  President  throughout  the  debate  maintained  that  there 
was  no  advantage  to  be  gained  by  increased  representation,  and  that  busi- 
ness could  be  more  quickly  transacted  with  a  small  number  of  members. 
He  disagreed  -with  those  members  who  wished  to  give  big  towns  representa- 
tives, as  the  Raad  would  be  swamped  with  town  members. 

After  the  rejection  of  various  proposals  the  President  rose  and  pointed 
out  it  would  mean  ruination  to  the  country  if  the  Raad  rerolved  to  increase 
the  number  of  the  members,  and  amidst  some  confusion  he  left,  declining 
to  occupy  the  Presidential  chair,  muttering  that  the  Raad  was  large  enough 
already,  and  if  it  were  increased  it  would  be  a  shame. 

EDUCATION   QUESTION. 

September  7. — The  Committee  reported  that  a  number  of  memorials  had  been 
received,  prayin<?  that  more  hours  weekly  should  be  devoted  to  the  English 
language.  Counter  memorials  had  also  been  received.  The  Committee 
advised  the  Raad  not  to  grant  the  request  of  more  hours  for  English. 

Mr.  LoMBAARD  thought  the  Raad  was  bound  to  refuse  the  request,  and  it 
would  be  useless  to  discuss  the  matter. 

Mr.  De  Beer  could  see  no  harm  in  granting  the  request,  in  fact,  it  was 
their  duty  to  do  so. 

Mr,  Spies  considered  there  was  no  necessity  to  teach  English  in  the  State. 
Trade  did  not  require  it,  and  they  could  get  on  very  well  without  English. 
Let  the  English  remain  in  their  own  country. 

The  President  was  opposed  to  extending  the  hours.  He  did  not  object 
to  English  being  taught,  but  then  it  must  not  interfere  with  the  language 
of  the  country  to  the  prejudice  of  the  latter  language.  He  had  schools 
upon  his  fann,  and  parents  objected  to  their  children  being  taught  English 
in  those  schools.  After  a  very  little  while  they  could  write  English  as  well 
as  or  better  than  their  own  language,  and  neglected  Dutch  for  English. 
The  Dutch  language  could  not  be  ma,mtained  against  English  in  competition. 

Mr.  WoLMARANS  also  spoke  against  the  English  language,  saying  that  if 
they  went  through  the  list  of  those  who  had  signed  the  memorial  for  the 
annexation  of  the  Transvaal  by  the  English,  they  would  find  without 
exception  that  tliose  who  signed  were  English-speaking.  He  was  against 
children  being  taught  English  so  early,  as  when  they  were  taught  young 
their  minds  became  poisoned  with  English  views. 

Mr.  Otto  agreed  with  the  spirit  of  the  Committee's  report.  This  was  a 
Dutch  country,  with  Dutch  laws,  and  why  should  they  be  asked  to  exchange 
the  Dutch  language  for  the  English  ?  What  had  the  English  done  for  the 
country  that  this  should  be  asked  ? 


310  APPENDICES 

The  Chaieman  tliought  many  members  made  too  much  of  tlie  English 
language  already.  One  language  was  sufiScieut,  and  if  a  man  was  pi0|icily 
educated  in  his  own  tongue  that  should  suffice. 

Mr.  Le  Clerq  and  Mr.  Pkixsloo  both  cautioned  the  Raad  against 
foreign  languages  in  their  schools. 

Mr.  LovEDAY  pointed  out  tlie  absurdity  of  saying  that  the  National 
Independence  de})ended  upon  one  language  only  being  used,  and  pointed  to 
the  American  and  Swiss  Republics  as  examples. 

Mr.  LoMBAARD,  in  the  course  of  a  violent  speech,  said  those  people  who 
wanted  English  taught  in  the  State-aided  schools  were  aiming  at  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  State.  They  wanted  to  bring  dissension  in  the  rnidst  of 
burghers  by  teaching  new  and  wrong  ideas,  and  they  became  indignant 
because  the  burghers  would  not  allow  it.  He  was  ashamed  that  members 
should  argue  in  favour  of  injuring  their  independence  :  English  should  not 
be  taught  in  the  State-aided  schools. 

The  law  remained  unaltered  by  12  to  10. 

1895. 

July  26. — The  matter  of  purchasing  diamond  drills  croppingup,  the  President 
said  it  was  true  that  the  two  industries,  mining  and  agriculture,  went  hand 
-  in  hand,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  every  fresh  goldfield  opened  meant 
a  fresh  stream  of  people  and  extra  expenses.  He  hoped  the  Raad  would 
excuse  him  referring  to  it,  but  the  Raad  took  away  the  revenue  and  still 
asked  for  money.  There  was  the  reduction  of  postage  ;  now  it  was  asked 
to  spend  money  on  boring-machines,  when  each  new  field  meant  so  much 
extra  expense.  Machines  for  water-boring  Avere  cheap  and  not  fitted  with 
diamonds  like  those  for  mining,  which  required  to  be  handled  by  experts. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  money  voted  for  agricultural  purposes  was 
spent  here,  while  for  the  gold  industry  it  was  sent  away.  The  Raad  must 
be  careful  how  the  money  was  voted. 

FIRST  RAAD. 

FIRING   AT  THE   CLOUDS   TO   BRING  DOWN   RAIN   CONSIDERED    IMPIOUS. 

August  5. — A  memorial  was  read  from  Krugersdorp  praying  tliat  the  Raad 
would  pass  a  law  to  prohibit  the  sending  up  of  bombs  into  the  clouds  to 
bring  down  rain,  as  it  was  a  defiance  of  God,  and  would  most  likely  bring 
down  a  visitation  from  the  Almighty. 

The  Memorial  Committee  reported  that  they  disapproved  of  such  a  thing, 
but  at  the  same  time,  they  did  not  consider  they  could  make  a  law  on  the 
subject. 

Mr.  A.  D.  WoLMARANS  said  he  was  astonished  at  this  advice,  and  he 
expected  better  from  the  Commission.  If  one  of  their  children  fired  towards 
the  clouds  with  a  revolver  they  would  thrash  him.  Why  should  they 
permit  people  to  mock  at  the  Almighty  in  this  manner  ?  tt  was  terrible  to 
contemplate.  He  hoped  that  the  Raad  would  take  steps  to  prevent  such 
things  liap]!eniug. 

The  CfiAiKMAX  (who  is  also  a  member  of  the  Memorial  Commission)  said 
the  Conmnssion  thought  that  such  things  were  only  done  for  a  wager. 

Mr.  Erasmus  said  they  were  not  done  for  a  wager,  but  in  real  eai-nest. 
People  at  Johannesburg  actually  thought  that  they  could  bring  down  the 
rain  from  the  clouds  by  firing  cannons  at  them. 

Mr.  Jan  Meyer  said  such  things  were  actually  done  in  Johannesburg. 
Last  year  during  the  drought  men  were  engaged  to  send  charges  of  dynamite 
into  the  clouds.     They  fired  from  the  Wanderers'  Ground  and  from  else- 


APPENDIX  D  311 

where,  but  without;  resxilt.  Then  someone  went  to  Gerniiston  and  fired  at 
a  passing  cloud,  but  there  was  no  rain.  The  cloud  sailed  away,  and  the 
heavens  became  clear  and  beautifully  blue.  He  had  reported  the  matter  to 
the  Government. 

Mr.  Du  ToiT  (Carolina)  said  he  had  heard  that  there  were  companies  in 
Europe  which  employed  numbers  of  men  to  do  notliiiig  but  shoot  at  the 
clouds  simply  to  bring  down  rain.  It  was  wonderful  that  men  could  think 
of  doing  such  things  ;  they  ought  to  be  proliibited  here.  He  did  not  con- 
sider that  the  Raad  would  be  justified  in  passing  a  law  on  the  subject,  how- 
ever ;  but  he  thought  all  the  same  that  they  should  express  their  strongest 
disapproval  of  such  practices. 

Mr.  BiRKENSTOCK  ridiculed  the  idea  of  people  forcing  rain  from  the 
clouds.  In  some  of  the  Kaffir  countries  they  had  witch-doctors  who  tried 
to  biing  down  rain  ;  whether  they  succeeded  or  not  was  a  difierent  matter. 
Still,  if  people  were  foolish, enough  to  try  and  force  the  clouds  to  discharge 
rain,  the  Legislature  ought  not  to  interfere  to  prevent  them.  He  did  not 
agree  with  the  idea  of  firing  at  the  clouds,  but  did  not  consider  that  an  Act 
should  be  passed  to  prevent  it. 

The  Chairman  said  if  such  things  were  actually  done — and  he  was 
unaware  of  it — those  who  did  it  ought  to  be  prevented  from  repeating  it. 

After  a  further  discussion,  Mr.  A.  D.  Wolmarans  moved:  'That  this 
Raad,  considering  the  memorial  now  on  the  Order,  resolves  to  agree  with 
the  same,  and  instructs  the  Government  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to 
prevent  a  repetition  of  the  occurrences  referred  to.' 

SECOND  RAAD. 
barmaids. 

The  article  for  the  abolition  of  Itarmaids  was  dealt  with. 

Mr.  Watkins  declared  himself  strongly  against  such  an  article.  He 
could  not  see  why  females  should  be  prevented  from  dispensing  liquor. 
Such  a  clause  would  prevent  many  respectable  young  women  from  making 
a  living. 

Mr.  Pretorius  said  there  were  many  memorials  on  this  subject,  and  in 
compliance  with  the  wish  expressed  therein  the  article  was  inserted  in  the 
Liquor  Law.     Of  course,  it  was  for  the  Raad  to  decide. 

Mr.  Rexsburg  spoke  strongly  against  the  clause.  According  to  it  the 
proprietor's  wife  would  be  prevented  from  going  behind  the  counter.  He 
would  not  deny  that  there  were,  some  barmaids  who  were  not  strictly 
virtuous,  but  to  accuse  them  as  a  class  of  being  dangerous  was  going  too 
far.  Many  of  the  memorials  Avere  signed  by  women.  These  memorials 
were  drawn  by  men  whom  he  considered  were  hypocrites,  and  they  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  themselves  for  their  narrow-mindedness. 

Mr.  Van  Staden  said  he  did  not  like  to  take  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths 
of  a  great  many  women. 

Mr.  KoE>;iG  suggested  that  they  could  become  chambermaids. 

APPENDIX  E 

MALABOCH. 

September  4. — An  Executive  resolution  was  read,  stating  that  the  Executive 
had  decided  to  deprive  Malaboch  of  his  rights  of  cliioftaiuship,  and  keep 
him  in  the  custody  of  the  Government,  and  that  his  tribe  be  broken  up  and 
apprenticed  out  to  burghers,  each  burgher  applying  to  have  one  or  two 


312  APPENDICES 

families  upon  payment  of  £3  per  family  per  annum.  The  Executive  wished 
the  Raad  to  approve  of  this  ;  the  Government  had  the  right  to  do  this 
according  to  law.  This  was  without  prejudice  to  the  trial  before  the  High 
Court.  Perhaps  when  the  Krijgsraad  assembled  it  would  be  decided  to  try 
him  before  the  High  Court  on  charges  of  murder  and  rcbfillion. 

Mr.  Jeppe  thought  this  was  a  matter  for  the  High  Court,  and  counselled 
the  Raad  to  adopt  that  course,  giving  the  chief  a  public  trial. 

The  President  said  the  Executive  acted  strictly  in  accordance  with  the 
law  ;  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  Government  to  send  the  case  to  the  High 
Court,  as  it  had  the  power  to  decide  native  cases.  For  instance,  in  the  case 
of  Lo  Bengula  and  his  headmen,  they  were  not  tried  by  any  High  Court. 

Mr.  Meyer  thought  they  should  give  Malaboch  a  fair  trial. 

Finally  Mr.  Meyer  moved,  and  Mr.  Jeppe  seconded,  that  Executive 
resolution  be  accepted  for  notice. 

APPENDIX  F 

THE  GEEAT  FEANCHISE  DEBATE. 

The  following  extract  is  made  from  the  Report  of  the  great  Franchise 
Debate  published  in  the  Johannesburg  Star,  August  17,  1895  : 

EXTENSION    OF  THE  FRANCHISE. — MONSTER  UITLANDER  PETITIONS. — WHAT 
THE    BURGHERS   WISH. 

Petitions  were  read  praying  for  the  extension  of  the  franchise.  The 
petitioners  pointed  out  that  they  were  all  residents  in  the  Republic,  that  the 
increase  of  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  the  status  of  the  country  were  due 
to  their  energy  and  wealth,  that  the  number  of  the  non-enfranchised,  far 
exceeded  the  number  of  the  burghers,  that  taxation  was  so  arranged  that  the 
non-enfranchised  bore  four-fifths  of  the  taxes.  The  memorialists  pointed  out 
that  one  of  the  Republican  principles  was  equality,  but  that  notwithstanding 
the  numerously-signed  memorials,  the  Raad  decided  last  year  to  make  the 
Franchise  Law  so  stringent  that  a  new-comer  could  never  obtain  the  franchise, 
and  his  children  could  only  obtain  it  under  severe  conditions.  They  pointed 
out  the  danger  of  this,  and  prayed  for  admission  imder  reasonable  conditions. 

The  petitions  came  from  every  part  of  the  country,  including  all  the  Boer 
strongholds,  and  some  were  signed  by  influential  officials.  One  petition  from 
Johannesburg  was  signed  by  32,479  persons,  and  the  total  signatures  amounted 
to  35,483. 

Memorials  to  the  same  eff"ect  were  read  from  a  large  number  of  farming 
districts,  signed  by  993  full  burghers,  who  were  anxious  that  the  franchise 
should  be  extended  to  law-abiding  citizens.  These  memorials  contained  the 
names  of  prominent  farmers.  There  were  nineteen  of  these  last-named 
memorials,  four  of  which  came  from  different  parts  of  the  Pretoria  district  and 
three  from  Potchefstroom. 

A  memorial  was  read  from  Lydenburg,  suggesting  that  ten  years'  residence 
in  the  country  and  obedience  to  the  law  be  the  qualification.  This  was  signed 
by  about  a  hundred  burgi  jrs 

A  number  of  memorials  were  read  from  Rustenberg,  Waterberg,  Piet  Retief, 
Utrecht,  Middelberg,  Zoutpansberg,  and  Krugers<iorp,  signed  by  about  500 
burghers,  stating  that  while  they  valued  the  friendship  of  the  peace-abiding 
Uitlanders,  they  petitioned  the  Raad  not  to  extend  the  franchise  or  alter  last 
year's  law. 

A  memorial  from  Krugersdorp  was  to  the  effect  that  the  franchise  should 


APPENDIX  F  313 

not  be  extended  until  absolutely  necessary,  and  then  only  in  terms  of  Art.  4 
of  tbe  Franchise  Law  of  1894.     This  was  signed  by  thirteen  persons. 

One  was  read  from  the  Apies  River  and  Standerton,  praying  that  tlie 
I'liildren  of  Uitlanders  born  here  sliould  not  be  granted  the  franchise. 

Memorials  from  other  places,  with  523  signatures,  prayed  that  the  existing 
Franchise  Law  should  be  strictly  enforced. 

Several  petitions  against  the  prohibition  of  the  Election  Committee  were 
read. 

A  further  memorial  from  the  Rand  was  read,  containing  5,152  signatures, 
pointing  out  that  they  objected  to  the  memorial  issued  by  the  National  Union, 
and  they  wanted  the  system  of  one-man-one- vote  and  the  ballot  system 
adopted  before  they  asked  for  the  franchise, 

THE   committee's    RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  Memorial  Committee  recommended  that  the  law  remain  unaltered, 
because  the  memorials  signed  by  full  burghers  requested  no  extension  to  take 
place. 

Mr.  Lucas  Meyer,  who  was  chairman  of  the  Memorial  Commission,  sub- 
mitted a  report,  stating  that  he  was  in  the  minority,  and  differed  from  his 
fellow-committeemen.  There  was  not  a  single  member  of  the  Raad  who  would 
use  his  powers  more  towards  maintaining  the  independence  of  the  country 
than  himself,  but  he  was  fully  convinced  that  the  Raad  had  as  bounden  duty 
to  propose  an  alteration  to  last  year's  law.  Proposals  to  do  so  had  to  emanate 
from  the  Raad.  A  large  majority  of  memorialists  who  prayed  for  the  exten- 
sion were  not  burghers,  but  even  those  burghers  who  petitioned  the  Raad 
against  the  extension  asked  the  Raad  not  to  do  so  at  present.  That  showed 
that  they  were  convinced  that  sooner  or  later  the  extension  would  have  to  tako 
place— cautiously  perhaps,  but  the  extension  would  come.  Even  the  com- 
mittee, the  majority  of  Avhom  were  against  him,  recognised  this.  He  repeated 
that  it  was  his  opinion  that  the  time  would  come.  Let  the  Raad  then  submit 
the  proposal  to  the  country,  and  if  the  majority  of  the  burghers  were  against 
it,  tlie  Raad  would  have  to  stand  or  fall  with  the  burghers  ;  but  at  any  rate 
they  would  be  acting  according  to  the  Avill  of  the  country,  and  could  not  be 
blamed  for  possible  consequences.  Recently  the  President  said  something 
had  to  be  done  to  admit  a  portion  of  the  people  who  were  behind  the  dam, 
before  the  stream  became  so  strong  that  the  walls  would  be  washed  away  and 
the  country  immersed  in  water.  He  hoped  the  Raad  would  favourably 
consider  his  proposal. 

Mr.  TosEN  said  that  when  the  proposals  came  to  extend  the  franchise,  such 
proposals  had  to  come  from  old  burghers,  and  so  far  the  old  burghers  had  not 
signified  their  willingness  that  this  should  be  done.  On  the  contrary,  a  large 
number  of  them  were  against  it.  Tliey  did  not  wish  to  exclude  the  new- 
comers for  all  eternity,  but  just  now  they  should  make  no  concession.  It 
stood  to  reason  that  the  new-comers  could  not  have  so  much  interest  in  the 
country  as  the  old  inhabitants.  He  cautioned  the  Raad  against  accepting  the 
recommendations  of  Mr.  Meyer.  It  would  be  contrary  to  Eejmblican  principles. 
Yes,  he  repeated  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  principles  of  Republicanism,  and 
were  new-comers  admitted  to  the  franchise  the  old  burghers  would  be  deprived 
of  all  their  rights.  They  would  not  dare  to  vote  or  exercise  any  of  their 
privileges.  Those  persons  who  signed  the  petition  for  the  franchise  said  they 
were  peaceful  and  law-abiding  citizens,  hut  they  gave  a  sign  that  they  were  not 
law  abiding,  because  they  were  against  the  law.  The  Election  Law  was  there, 
and  they  should  abide  by  it. 

The  Chairman  called  the  speaker  to  order,  and  advised  him  to  keep  to  the 
point,  whether  it  was  desirable  to  extend  the  franchise  or  not. 


314  APPENDICES 

Mr,  TosEN  said  he  was  cut  short,  but  in  a  few  words  he  would  say  that  he 
would  resist  to  the  bitter  end  any  attempt  to  alter  the  law  as  it  at  present 
stood.     He  spoke  on  behalf  of  his  constituents  and  himself. 

Mr.  Jeppe,  in  the  course  of  his  speech,  said  :  Who  are  the  people  who  now 
demand  from  us  a  reasonable  extension  of  the  franchise  ?  There  are  to  begin 
with  almost  a  thousand  old  burghers  who  consent  to  such  extension.  There 
are  in  addition  890  petitioners,  also  old  burghers,  who  complain  that  tlie 
franchise  has  been  narrowed  by  recent  legislation.  There  are  5,100,  chiefly 
from  the  Rand,  who  ask  for  extension  subject  to  the  ballot,  the  principle  of 
which  has  already  been  adopted  by  you,  and  there  is  lastly  a  monster  petition, 
bearing  35,700  names,  chiefly  from  the  Rand  goldfields  :  and  in  passing  I  may 
mention  that  I  have  convinced  myself  that  the  signatures  [to  it,  with  very 
few  exceptions  perhaps,  are  undoubtedly  genuine.  Well,  this  petition  has 
been  practically  signed  by  the  entire  population  of  the  Rand.  There  are  not 
three  hundred  people  of  any  standing  whose  names  do  not  appear  tb.ere.  It 
contains  the  name  of  the  millionaire  capitalist  on  the  same  page  as  that  of  the 
carrier  or  miner,  that  of  the  owner  of  half  a  district  next  to  that  of  a  clerk, 
and  the  signature  of  the  merchant  who  possesses  stores  in  more  than  one  town 
of  this  Republic  next  to  that  of  the  official.  It  embraces  also  all  nation- 
alities :  the  German  merchant,  the  doctor  from  Capetown,  the  English 
director,  the  teacher  from  the  Paarl — they  all  have  signed  it.  So  have — and 
that  is  significant — old  burghers  from  the  Free  State,  whose  fathers  with 
yours  reclaimed  this  country  ;  and  it  bears,  too,  the  signatures  of  some  who 
have  been  born  in  this  country,  who  know  no  other  fatherland  than  this 
Republic,  but  whom  the  law  regards  as  strangers.  Then,  too,  there  are  the 
new-comers.  They  have  settled  for  good  ;  they  have  built  Johannesburg,  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  age,  now  valued  at  many  millions  sterling,  and  which, 
in  a  few  short  years,  will  contain  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  souls  ;  they  own  half  the  soil,  they  pay  at  least  three-quarters  of 
the  taxes.  Nor  are  they  persons  who  belong  to  a  subservient  race.  They 
come  from  countries  where  they  freely  exercised  political  rights  which  can 
never  be  long  denied  to  free-born  men.  They  are,  in  short,  men  who  in 
capital,  energy  and  education  are  at  least  our  equals.  All  these  persons  are 
gathered  together,  thanks  to  our  law,  into  one  camp.  Through  our  own  act 
this  multitude,  which  contains  elements  which  even  the  most  suspicious 
amongst  us  would  not  hesitate  to  trust,  is  compelled  to  stand  together,  and 
so  to  stand  in  this  most  fatal  of  all  questions  in  antagonism  to  us.  Is  that 
fact  alone  not  sufficient  to  warn  us  and  to  prove  how  unstatesmanlike  our 
policy  is?  What  will  we  do  with  them  now?  Shall  we  convert  them  into 
fiiends,  or  shall  we  send  them  away  empty,  dissatisfied,  embittered  ?  What 
will  our  answer  be?  Dare  we  refer  them  to  the  pi'esent  law,  which  first 
expects  them  to  wait  for  fourteen  years,  and  even  then  pledges  itself  to 
nothing,  but  leaves  everything  to  a  A'olksraad  which  cannot  decide  until 
1905  ?  It  is  a  law  Avhich  denies  all  political  rights  even  to  their  children 
born  in  this  country.  Can  they  gather  any  hope  from  that  ?  Is  not  the  fate 
of  the  petition  of  Mr.  Justice  ilorice,  whose  request,  however  reasonable, 
could  not  be  granted  except  by  the  alteration  of  the  law  published  for  twelve 
months  and  consented  to  by  two-thirds  of  the  entire  buigher  population,  a 
convincing  proof  how  untenable  is  the  position  which  we  have  assumed  ? 
Well,  should  we  resolve  now  to  refuse  this  request,  what  will  we  do  when,  as 
we  Avell  know  must  happen,  it  is  repeated  by  two  hundred  thousand  one  day  ? 
You  will  all  admit  the  doors  must  be  opened.  What  will  become  of  us  or  our 
children  on  that  day,  when  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  a  minority  of  perhaps 
one  in  twenty,  without  a  single  friend  amongst  the  other  nineteen,  amongst 
those  who  will  then  tell  us  they  v/ished  to  be  brothers,  but  that  we  by  our 


APPENDIX  F  315 

own  act  made  them  strangers  to  the  Republic  ?  Old  as  the  world  is,  has  an 
attempt  like  ours  ever  succeeded  for  long  ?  Shall  we  say,  as  a  French  king 
did,  that  things  will  last  our  time,  and  after  that  we  reck  not  the  deluge  ? 
Again  I  ask  what  account  is  to  be  given  to  our  descendants,  and  what  can  be 
our  hope  in  the  future  ? 

Mr.  Le  Ci.iaiQ  opposed  the  extension. 

Mr.  Jan  de  Bker  said  he  could  not  agree  to  the  prayer  for  extension.  The 
burghers  would  decide  time  enough  when  the  dam  was  too  lull,  or  Avhen  fresh 
water  was  wanted.  He  had  gone  through  the  memorials,- and  some  that 
wished  an  extension  were  unknown  to  him,  even  those  who  signed  from  his 
district.  Very  few  persons  were  in  favour  of  the  extension.  If  the  burghers 
wished  it  he  would  give  it,  he  would  agree  to  it.  Tlie  people  coolly  asked  the 
Raad  to  extend  the  franchise  to  80,000  persons,  men  who  were  not  naturalized 
and  had  nothing  to  lose.  He  did  not  mind  extending  the  franchise  to  a  few. 
When  it  was  a  small  case  he  did  not  object,  but  when  it  came  to  giving  away 
their  birthright  wholesale  he  kicked.  He  did  not  object  to  give  the  burgher 
right  to  persons  who  shot  Kaffirs,  or,  he  had  better  say,  persons  who  went  into 
the  native  wars  on  behalf  of  the  Transvaal,  because  they  shed  their  blood  for 
the  country  ;  but  people  who  came  here  only  to  make  money,  and  that  only, 
did  not  deserve  the  franchise.  Let  them  look  at  that  book  of  signatures  on 
the  table  with  the  70,000  names.  Who  were  they  ?  (Laughter,  and  cries  of 
'Too  much.')  Well,  38,000  then.  He  had  'too  much.'  They  were  the 
persons,  the  millionaires  side  by  side  with  mining  workers  whom  Mr.  Jeppe 
spoke  of,  but  where  did  they  find  these  people  side  by  side  ?  Nowhere  !  No, 
he  would  not  grant  an  extension  of  the  franchise. 

The  President  said  he  wished  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  subject,  and  the 
first  thing  he  had  to  say  was  that  those  persons  who  signed  the  monster 
petition  were  unfaithful  and  not  law-abiding. 

Mr.  Jeppe  :  I  deny  that. 

The  President  :  Yes— I  repeat,  unfaithful. 

Mr.  Jeppe  (excitedly) :  I  say  they  are  not ! 

The  Chairman  :  Older,  order  ! 

The  President  then  endeavoured  to  qualify  his  remarks  by  reasserting 
that  these  people  were  disrespectful  and  disobedient  to  the  law,  because  they 
Avere  not  naturalized.  'Now/  asked  His  Honour  triumphantly,  'can  you 
contradict  that  ?  No,  you  cannot.  No  one  can.  The  law  says  that  they 
must  be  naturalized,  and  they  are  not.'  Speeches  had  been  made  that  after- 
noon, His  Honour  proceeded,  urging  that  the  rich  should  be  made  burghers 
and  not  the  poor.  Why  not  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  if  that  were  the 
case  ?  But  he  was  against  granting  any  extension,  saving  in  cases  like  that 
he  mentioned  the  other  day.  Those  who  went  on  commando  were  entitled  to 
it,  but  no  others.  Those  persons  who  showed  they  loved  the  country  by 
making  such  sacrifices  were  entitled  to  the  franchise,  and  they  should  get  it. 
These  memorials  were  being  sent  in  year  by  year,  and  yearly  threats  were 
made  to  them  if  they  did  not  open  the  flood-gates.  If  the  dam  was  full 
before  the  walls  were  washed  over,  a  certain  portion  of  the  water  had  to  be 
drained  off.  Well,  this  had  been  done  in  the  case  of  commando  men.  They 
were  the  clean  water  which  was  drained  off  and  taken  into  the  inner  dam, 
which  consisted  of  clean  v;ater,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  take  in  the  dirty  water 
also.  No,  it  had  to  remain  in  the  outer  dam  until  it  was  cleaned  and  purified. 
The  Raad  might  just  as  well  give  away  the  independence  of  the  country  as 
give  all  these  new-comers,  these  disobedient  persons,  the  franchise.  These 
persons  knew  there  was  a  law,  but  they  wished  to  evade  it ;  they  wished  to 
climb  the  wall  instead  of  going  along  the  road  quietly,  and  these  persons 
should  be  kept  back.  He  earnestly  cautioned  the  Raad  against  adopting 
Mr.  L.  Meyer's  proposal. 


316  APPENDICES 

Mr.  D.  JouBERT  said  excitement  would  not  avail  them.  They  had  to  be 
calm  and  deliberate.  Now,  what  struck  him  was,  first,  who  would  give 
them  the  assurance,  were  they  to  admit  the  35,000  persons  who  petitioned 
them  for  the  franchise,  that  they  would  maintain  the  independence  of  the 
country  inviolate  and  as  a  sacred  heritage  ?  They  had  no  guarantee.  He 
could  not  agree  witli  the  request  of  the  petition  (here  the  speaker  became 
excited,  and,  gesticulating  violently,  continued),  and  he  would  never  grant 
the  request  if  the  decision  was  in  his  hands. 

Mr.  A.  J.  WoLMARANS  said  that  his  position  on  this  question  was  that  he 
would  not  budge  an  inch. 

Mr.  Jan  Meyer  impugned  the  genuineness  of  the  petition,  and  said  he  had 
represented  Johannesburg  in  the  Raad  for  some  time,  and  could  tell  them  how 
those  things  were  worked.  They  were  nearly  all  forgeries.  He  stated  that 
as  there  were  only  40,000  people  in  Johannesburg,  it  was  impossible  that 
38,000  of  them  signed.  Therefore  they  were  forgeries.  The  speaker  con- 
cluded by  saying  that  as  long  as  he  lived  he  would  never  risk  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  country  by  granting  the  franchise,  except  in  accordance  with 
the  law.  It  was  unreasonable  to  ask  him  to  give  up  his  precious  birthright  in 
this  thoughtless  manner.     He  could  not  do  it — he  would  not  do  it  ! 

Mr.  Prinsloo  said  that  he  had  gone  through  the  petitions  from  Potchef- 
stroom,  and  certainly  he  had  to  admit  that  many  of  the  signatures  were  not 
genuine,  for  he  found  on  these  petitions  the  names  of  his  next-door  neigh- 
bours, who  had  never  told  him  a  word  about  their  signing  such  petitions. 

Mr.  Otto  again  addressed  the  Raad,  endeavouring  to  prove  tliat  memorials 
from  Ottos  Hoop  contained  many  forgeries.  He  said  that  he  did  not  consider 
the  Johannesburg  people  who  signed  in  that  wonderful  and  fat  book  on  the 
table  to  be  law-abiding,  and  he  would  have  none  of  them.  The  Kaad  had 
frequently  heard  that  if  the  franchise  were  not  extended  there  would  be 
trouble.  He  was  tired  of  these  constant  threats.  He  would  say,  '  Come  on 
and  fight  !     Come  on  !'     (Cries  of  '  Order  !') 

Mr.  Otto  (proceeding) :  I  say,  '  Come  on  and  have  it  out ;  and  the  sooner 
the  better. '  I  cannot  help  it,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  must  speak  out.  I  say  I  am 
prepared  to  fight  them,  and  I  think  every  burgher  of  the  South  African 
Republic  is  with  me. 

The  Chairman  (rapping  violently) :  Order,  order  ! 

Mr.  Otto  :  Yes,  this  poor  South  African  Republic,  which  they  say  they 
own  three- fourths  of.  They  took  it  from  us,  and  we  fought  for  it  and  got  it 
back. 

The  Chairman  :  Order  ! 

Mr.  Otto  :  They  called  us  rebels  then.     I  say  they  are  rebels. 

Loud  cries  of  '  Order  !' 

Mr.  Otto  :  I  will  say  to  day,  those  persons  who  signed  the  memorials  in 
that  book  are  rebels. 

The  Chairman  :  Will  you  keep  order  ?  You  have  no  right  to  say  such 
things.  We  are  not  considering  the  question  of  powers,  but  the  peaceful 
question  of  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to-day  ;  and  keep  to  the  point. 

Mr.  Otto  :  Very  well,  I  will ;  but  I  call  the  whole  country  to  witness  that 
you  silenced  me,  and  would  not  allow  me  to  speak  out  my  mind. 

The  President  said  they  had  to  distinguish  between  trustworthy  persons 
and  untrustworthy,  and  one  proof  was  their  going  on  commando,  and  the 
other  was  their  becoming  naturalized.  People  who  were  naturalized  were 
more  or  less  worthy,  and  if  they  separated  themselves  from  the  others  who 
would  not  get  naturalized,  and  petitioned  the  Raad  themselves,  the  Raad 
would  give  ear  to  their  petition.  He  strongly  disipproved  of  the  Raad  being 
deceived  in  the  manner  it  had  been  by  the  forged  signatures. 


APPENDIX  F  317 

Mr.  R.  K.  LovEDAY,  in  the  course  of  an  address  dealing  exhaustively  with 
the  subject,  said :  The  President  uses  the  argument  that  they  should 
naturalize,  and  thus  give  evidence  of  their  desire  to  become  citizens.  I  have 
used  the  same  argument,  but  what  becomes  of  such  arguments  when  met  with 
the  objections  that  the  law  requires  such  persons  to  undergo  a  probationary 
period  extending  from  fourteen  to  twenty-four  years  before  they  are  admitted 
to  full  rights  of  citizenship,  and  even  after  one  has  undergone  that  pro- 
bationary period,  he  can  only  be  admitted  to  full  rights  by  resolution  of  the 
First  Raad  ?  Law  4  of  1890,  being  the  Act  of  the  two  Volksraads,  lays  down 
clearly  and  distinctly  that  those  who  have  been  eligible  for  ten  years  for  the 
Second  Raad  can  be  admitted  to  full  citizenship.  So  that,  in  any  case,  the 
naturalized  citizen  cannot  obtain  full  rights  until  he  reaches  the  age  of  forty 
years,  he  not  being  eligible  for  the  Second  Raad  until  he  is  thirty  years. 
The  child  born  of  non-naturalized  pai'ents  must  therefore  wait  until  he  is  forty 
years  of  age,  although  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  may  be  called  upon  to  do 
military  service,  and  may  fall  in  the  defence  of  the  land  of  his  birth.  AVhen 
such  arguments  are  hurled  at  me  by  our  own  flesh  and  blood— our  kinsD  en 
from  all  parts  of  South  Africa — I  must  confess  that  I  am  not  surprised  Liat 
these  persons  indignantly  refuse  to  accept  citizenship  upon  such  unreasonable 
terms.  The  element  I  have  just  referred  to — namely,  the  Africander  element 
— is  very  considerable,  and  numbers  thousands,  hundreds  of  whom  at  the 
time  this  country  was  struggling  for  its  independence  accorded  it  moral  and 
financial  support,  and  yet  these  very  persons  are  subjected  to  a  term  o'f  pro- 
bation extending  from  fourteen  to  twenty-four  years.  It  is  useless  for  me  to 
ask  you  whether  such  a  policy  is  just  and  reasonable  or  Republican,  for  there 
can  be  but  one  answer,  and  that  is  '  No  !'  Is  there  one  man  in  this  Raad  who 
would  accept  the  franchise  on  the  same  terms  ?  Let  me  impress  upon  you 
the  grave  nature  of  this  question,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  going  to  the 
burghers  without  a  moment's  delay,  and  consulting  and  advising  them.  Let 
us  keep  nothing  from  them  regarding  the  true  position,  and  I  am  sure  we 
shall  have  their  hearty  co-operation  in  any  reasonable  scheme  we  may  suggest. 
This  is  a  duty  we  owe  them,  for  we  must  not  leave  them  under  the  impression 
that  the  Uitlanders  are  satisfied  to  remain  aliens,  as  stated  by  some  of  the 
journals.  I  move  amongst  these  people,  and  learn  to  know  their  true  feelings, 
and  when  public  journals  tell  you  that  these  people  are  satisfied  with  their 
lot,  they  tell  you  that  which  they  know  to  be  false.  Such  journals  are 
amongst  the  greatest  sources  of  danger  that  the  countiy  has.  We  are 
infomied  by  certain  members  that  a  proposition  for  the  extension  of  the 
franchise  must  come  from  the  burghei's,  but  according  to  the  Franchise  Law 
the  proposition  must  come  fi  om  the  Raad,  and  the  public  must  consent.  The 
member  for  Rustenberg  says  that  there  are  9,338  burghers  who  have  declared 
that  they  are  opposed  to  the  extension  of  the  franchise.  Upon  reference  to 
the  Report,  he  will  find  that  there  are  only  1,564  opposed  to  the  extension. 
Members  appear  afraid  to  touch  upon  the  real  question  at  issue,  but  try  to 
discredit  the  memorials  by  vague  statements  that  some  of  the  signatures  are 
not  genuine,  and  the  former  member  for  Johannesburg,  Mr.  J.  Meyer,  seems 
just  as  anxious  to  discredit  the  people  of  Johannesburg  as  formerly  he  was  to 
defend  them. 

The  Chairman  advanced  many  arguments  in  favour  of  granting  the 
franchise  to  the  Uitlander,  but  nevertheless  concluded  by  stating  that,  as 
the  Raad  with  few  exceptions  wei-e  against  the  extension,  he  would  go  with 
the  majority.  He  was  not,  he  said,  averse  to  the  publication  of  Mr.  Meyer's 
]>roposition,  because  the  country  would  have  to  decide  upon  it  ;  still,  he 
could  not  favour  the  extension  of  the  franchise  in  the  face  of  what  had  been 
said  during  the  debate.    Let  the  Raad  endeavour  to  lighten  the  burden  of  the 


318  APPENDICES 

alien  in  other  respects.  Let  the  alien  come  to  the  Raad  with  his  grievances, 
and  let  the  Raad  give  a  patient  ear  unto  him,  but  he  really  was  not  entitled 
to  the  franchise. 

The  President  again  counselled  the  Raad  not  to  consent  to  the  publication 
of  Mr.  Meyer's  proposal.  He  did  not  want  it  put  to  the  country.  This 
business  had  been  repeated  from  year  to  year  until  he  was  tired  of  it.  And 
why  should  they  worry  and  weary  the  bui-ghers  once  more  by  asking  them  to 
decide  upon  Mr.  Meyer's  motion  ?  There  was  no  need  for  it.  There  was  no 
uncertainty  about  it.  The  burghers  knew  their  minds,  and  their  will,  which 
was  supreme,  was  known.  The  way  was  open  for  aliens  to  become  burghers  ; 
let  them  follow  that  road  and  not  try  to  jump  over  the  wall.  They  had  the 
privilege  of  voting  for  the  Second  Raad  if  they  became  naturalized,  and  could 
vote  for  officials,  and  that  was  more  than  they  could  do  in  the  Cape  Colony. 
In  the  Colony  they  could  not  vote  for  a  President,  or  any  official. 
They  were  all  apjioiuted.  They  could  only  vote  for  Raad  members  thfere. 
And  why  should  they  want  more  power  here  all  at  once  f  What  was  the 
ctiuse  of  all  this  commotion  ?  What  were  they  clamouring  for  ?  He  know. 
They  wanted  to  get  leave  to  vote  for  members  of  the  First  Raad,  v^liich  had 
the  inde])ei!(lence  of  the  country  under  its  control.  He  had  been  told  by 
tiiese  ])eople  that  'if  you  take  us  on  the  same  van  with  you,  we  cannot  over- 
turn the  van  without  hurting  ourselves  as  well  as  you.'  '  Ja,'  that  was  true, 
^maar,'  the  Pkp:sident  continued,  they  could  pull  away  the  reins  and  drive 
the  van  along  a  different  route. 

Mr.  Jkppe,  again  speaking,  said  there  was  one  matter  he  must  refer  to.  That 
was  His  Honour's  remarks  about  the  petitioners,  calling  them  disobedient  and 
unfaithful.  The  law  compels  no  one  to  naturalize  himself.  How  then  could 
these  ])etitioners  have  disobeyed  it?  Of  course  we  should  prefer  them  to 
naturalize.  But  can  we  be  surprised  if  they  hesitate  to  do  so  ?  Mr.  Loveday 
has  told  you  Vv'hat  naturalization  means  to  them. 

The  PiiESiDKKT  agreed  that  these  peoi)le  were  not  obliged  by  law  to 
naturalize,  but  if  they  wanted  burgher  rights  they  should  do  so,  when  they 
would  get  the  franchise  for  the  Second  Raad  ;  and  upon  their  being  naturalized 
let  them  come  nicely  to  the  Raad,  and  the  Raad  would  have  something  to  go 
to  the  country  with,  and  they  would  receive  fair  treatment ;  but  if  they 
refused  naturalization  and  rejected  the  Transvaal  laws,  could  they  expect  the 
franchise  ?  No.  Let  Mr.  Jeppe  go  back  and  give  his  people  good  advice, 
and  if  they  were  obedient  to  the  law  and  became  naturalized  they  would  not 
regret  it  ;  but  he  could  not  expect  his  people  to  be  made  full  burghers  if  they 
were  disobedient  and  refused  naturalization.  Let  them  do  as  he  advised,  and 
he  (the  President)  would  stand  by  them  and  support  them. 

Mr.  Jeppe  said :  His  Honour  h^s  again  asked  me  to  advise  the  people  of 
Johannesburg  what  to  do  regarding  tire  extension  of  the  franchise.  He  says 
they  must  first  naturalize  and  then  come  again.  Then  he  holds  out  hopes 
that  their  wishes  will  be  met.  Why,  then,  does  he  not  support  Mr.  Meyer's 
proposal,  which  adects  naturalized  people  only?  What  is  it  1  am -to  advise 
the  people  of  Johannesbmg  ?  I  have  had  many  suggestions  from  different 
members.  You,  Mr.  Chairman,  seem  to  support  the  hundred  men  from 
Lydeuburg  who  suggest  ten  years'  residence  as  a  qualification.  Mr.  Jan 
Meyer  suggests  that  those  who  came  early  to  the  goldfields  should  memorialize 
separately,  and  he  would  support  them.  Others  say  that  only  those  who  are 
naturalized  should  petition,  and  that  if  a  few  hundreds  petitioned  instead  of 
35,000  their  reception  would  be  different.  Well,  we  have  had  one  petition 
wherein  all  these  conditions  were  complied  with.  It  was  not  signed  by  any- 
one who  had  not  been  here  ten  years,  or  who  is  not  naturalized,  or  who  could 
at  all  be  suspected  of  being  unfaithful,  nor  could  any  exception  be  taken  to  it 


APPENDIX  G  319 

on  the  gi'ound  of  numbers,  siuce  it  was  signed  by  one  man  only,  Mr.  Justice 
Morice,  and  yet  it  was  rejected.  Gentlemen,  I  am  anxiously  groping  for  the 
light ;  but  what,  in  the  face  of  this,  am  I  to  advise  my  people  ? 

Mr.  Jan  dr  Beer  endeavoured  to  refute  Messrs.  Jei)j)e's  and  Loveday's 
statements,  when  they  said  a  man  could  not  become  a  full  member  until  he 
was  forty.  They  were  out  of  their  reckoning,  because  a  man  did  not  live 
until  he  was  sixteen.  He  was  out  of  the  country.  In  the  eyes  of  the  law  he 
was  a  foreigner  iintil  he  was  sixteen.  (Laughter.)  The  member  adduced 
other  similar  arguments  to  refute  those  of  Messrs.  Jeppe  and  Loveday,  causing 
much  laughter. 

Mr.  Loveday  replied  to  the  President,  especially  referring  to  his  Honour's 
statement  that  he  (Mr.  Loveday)  v/as  wrong  when  ho  said  that  a  person  would 
have  to  wait  until  he  was  forty  before  he  could  obtain  the  full  rights.  He 
(Mr.  Loveday)  repeated  and  emphasized  his  statements  of  yesterday. 

The  CiiAiHMAN  said  there  was  no  doubt  about  it.  What  Mr.  Loveday  said 
regarding  the  qualifications  and  liow  long  a  man  would  have  to  wait  until  he 
was  qualified  to  become  a  full  burgher  was  absolutely  correct.  It  could  not 
be  contradicted.  The  law  was  clear  on  that  point.  There  was  no  doubt 
about  it. 

Mr.  Jan  de  Eeer  :  Yes  ;  I  see  now  Mr.  Loveday  is  right,  and  I  am  wrong. 
The  law  does  say  what  Mr.  Loveday  said.     It  must  be  altered. 

The  debate  was  closed  on  the  third  day,  and  Mr.  Otto's  motion  to  accept 
the  report  of  the  majority  of  the  Comnuttee,  to  refuse  the  request  of  the 
memorialists,  and  to  refer  them  to  the  existing  laws,  was  carried  by  sixteen 
votes  to  eight. 

APPENDIX  G 

TEEMS  OF  DR.  JAMESON'S  SURRENDEB 
Sir  Hercules  Bohinson  to  Air.  Chamberlain. 
Received  April  6,  1896. 

Government  House,  Capetown, 

March  16,  1896. 
Sir, 

I  have  the  honour  to  transmit  for  your  information  a  copy  of  a  despatch 
from  Her  Majesty's  Acting  Agent  at  Pretoria,  enclosing  a  communication  from 
the  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic,  accompanied  by  sworn 
declarations,  respecting  the  terms  of  the  surrender  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force,  a 
summary  of  which  documents  I  telegraphed  to  you  on  the  12th  instant. 

At  my  request,  Lieutenant-Geueral  Goodenough  has  perused  these  sworn 
declarations,  and  informs  me  '  that,'  in  his  opinion,  'Jameson's  surrender  was 
unconditional,  except  that  his  and  his  people's  lives  were  to  be  safe  so  far  as 
tlieir  immediate  captors  were  concerned. ' 

I  have,  etc., 
Hercules  Robinson, 
Governor  and  High  Commissioner. 
Enclosed  in  above  letter. 

From  H.  Cloeie,  Pretoria,  to  the  High  Commissioner,  Capetown. 

Pretoria,  March  llih,  1896. 

SiK, 

I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  for  the  information  of  your  Excellency  a 
letter  this  day  received  from  the  Government,  a  summary  of  which  I  have 
already  sent  your  Excellency  by  telegraph. 

I  have,  etc., 

H.  Cloete. 


320  APPENDICES 

Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

Government  Office,  Pretoria, 

March  10,  1896. 
Division  A.,  R.A.,  1056/1896, 

B.,  395/96. 
Honourable  Sir, 

I  am  instructed  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  telegram  from  his 
Excellency  the  High  Commissioner  to  you,  dated  6th  instant,  forwarded  on 
by  you  to  his  Honour  the  State  President,  and  I  am  now  instructed  to  com- 
plete with  further  data  my  letter  to  you  of  4th  instant,  B,B.,  257/96,  which  I 
herewith  confirm,  containing  the  information  which  the  Government  theTi 
had  before  it  respecting  the  surrender,  and  which  was  furnished  in  view  of 
your  urgent  request  for  an  immediate  reply. 

In  order  to  leave  no  room  for  the  slightest  misunderstanding,  and  to  put 
an  end  to  all  false  representations,  the  Government  has  summoned  not  only 
Commandant  Ci'onje,  but  also  Commandant  Potgieter,  Commandant  Malan, 
Field-Cornet  Maartens,  Assistant  Field-Cornet  Van  Vuuren,  and  others, 
whose  evidence  appears  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  places  the  matter 
in  a  clear  and  plain  light. 

The  information  which  the  Governmetit  has  found  published  in  the  papers 
is  of  the  following  purport  : 

'The  Doornkop  Surrender  :  Alleged  Correspondence. 

'  London,  Monday,  11.15  a.m. 

'  Mr.  Hawskley,  the  Chartered  solicitor,  who  is  defending  Dr.  Jameson, 
published  the  following  letter  to-day,  which  passed  between  Sir  John  Wil- 
loughby  and  Mr.  Cronje,  the  Dutch  Commandant  at  the  time  of  the  Krugers- 
dorp  surrender  : 

'  From  Willoughhy  to  Commandant. 

'  "  We  surrender,  providing  you  guarantee  a  safe  conduct  out  of  the  country 
for  every  member  of  the  force." 

'  From  Cronj6  to  Willoughhy. 

'  "  Please  take  notice,  I  shall  immediately  let  our  officers  come  together  to 
decide  upon  your  communication." 

'  From  Cronj4  to  Willoughhy. 

'  "  I  acknowledge  your  letter.  The  answer  is,  If  you  will  undertake  to  pay 
the  expenses  you  have  caused  to  the  Transvaal,  and  will  lay  down  your  arms, 
then  I  will  spare  the  lives  of  you  and  yours.  Please  send  me  reply  to  this 
within  thirty  minutes."  ' 

I  have  now  the  honour  to  enclose  for  the  information  of  His  Excellency  the 
High  Commissioner  and  the  British  Government  sworn  declarations  of : 

1.  Commandant  Cronje,  substantiated  by  Field-Cornet  Maartens  and 
Assistant  Field-Cornet  Van  Vuuren. 

2.  Commandant  Potgieter. 

3.  Commandant  Malan. 

4.  J.  S.  Gelliers,  substantiated  by  B.  J.  Viljoen,  and  the  interpreter,  M.  J. 
AdendorfT. 

These  sworn  declarations,  given  before  the  State  Attorney,  agree  in  all  the 


APPENDIX  G  821 

principal  points,  and  give  a  clear  summary  of  all  the  incidents  of  the  surrender, 
and  from  the  main  points  thereof  it  appears,  inter  alia : 

That  the  second  letter,  as  published  above,  and  which  is  alleged  to  be  from 
Cronje  to  Willougliby,  was  not  issued  from  Cronje,  but  from  Commandant 
Potgietev,  who  has  undoubtedly  taken  up  the  proper  standpoint,  and  has 
followed  tlie  general  rule  in  matters  of  urgency,  such  as  the  one  in  hand,  and 
where  the  Commandant-General  was  not  present  in  person  on  the  field  of 
battle,  lirst  and  before  treating  wishing  to  consult  with  his  co-commandants 
in  as  far  as  was  jiossible. 

That  a  note  such  as  appears  in  his  declaration  was  sent  by  Commandant 
Cronje. 

That  neither  Commandant  Malan  nor  Commandant  Potgieter  was  present 
at  the  despatch  of  it. 

That  the  reply  thereon  from  Willoughby  was  received  by  Commandant 
Cronje,  as  appears  in  that  declaration. 

That  Commandant  Cronje  then,  in  compliance  with  the  note  sent  by  Com- 
mandant Potgieter,  as  well  as  the  other  commandants  and  officers  mentioned 
in  the  declaration  of  Cronje,  rode  up. 

That  Commandant  Cronje  then  explained  his  own  note. 

That  thereupon  also  Commandant  Malan  joined  his  co-commandants  and 
officers,  and  at  this  time  Commandants  Malan,  Cronje,  and  Potgieter  were 
present. 

That  after  consultation,  and  with  the  approval  of  Commandants  Cronj^ 
and  Potgieter,  Commandant  Malan,  by  means  of  the  interpreter  Adendorif, 
had  the  lollowing  said  to  Dr.  Jameson  : 

'  This  is  Commandant  Malan.  He  wishes  you  distinctly  to  understand 
that  no  terms  can  be  made  here.  We  have  no  right  to  make  terms  here. 
Terms  will  be  made  by  the  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic.  He 
can  only  secure  your  lives  to  Pretoria,  until  you  are  handed  over  to  Com- 
mandant-General at  Pretoria.' 

That  Dr.  Jameson  agreed  to  these  terms  and  accepted  them. 

That  thereupon,  by  order  of  Dr.  Jameson,  the  arms  were  then  also  laid 
down. 

That  Commandant  Trichardt  then  appeared  with  the  orders  of  the  Com- 
mandant-General to  himself. 

It  now  appears  that  these  orders  are  those  which  were  contained  in  the 
telegram  of  which  I  already  sent  you  a  copy  by  my  above-quoted  letter  of  the 
4th  March,  1896,  and  which,  after  the  final  regulation  of  matters  such  as  had 
then  taken  place,  was  not  further  acted  upon  because,  as  regards  the  surrentler, 
negotiations  were  in  fact  carried  on  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  the  Com- 
mandant-General. 

AVhile,  putting  aside  the  question  of  the  surrender,  there  is  little  to  be  said 
about  the  other  })oints  contained  in  the  telegram  under  re[)ly,  there  is  one 
which  is  considered  of  sufficient  importance  by  this  Government  to  even  still 
draw  the  attention  of  His  Excellency  the  High  Commissioner  thereto.  His 
Excellency  says  :  '  I  may  therefore  explain  that  an  annistice  had  been  agi'eed 
to  pending  my  arrival. ' 

The  Government  here  can  only  think  of  one  other  misunderstanding,  they 
having  at  the  time  of  the  disturbances  at  Johannesburg  never  recognised  any 
acting  party,  for  which  reason,  therefore,  the  concluding  of  an  armistice  was 
an  impossibility. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  to  tender  thanks  both  to  His  Honour  the  Secretary  of 
State  and  His  Excellency  the  High  Commissioner  for  the  unprejudiced  manner 
in  which  they,  as  against  insinuations  of  a  low  character,  have  made  known 
their  feelings  with  respect  to  the  good  faith  shown  by  his  Honour  the  State 

21 


322  APPENDICES 

President  iu  his  negotiations  in  connection  with  the  question  of  the  surrender 
of  Dr.  Jameson's  force. 


His  Honour  H.  Cloete, 

Acting  British  Agent,  Pretoria. 


I  have,  etc., 

C.    VAN    BOESCIIOTEN, 

Acting  State  Secretary, 


Appeared  before  me,  Hermaxus  Jacob  Coster,  State  Attorney  and  ex-officio 
J.P.  of  the  South  African  RcpuUic,  Pieter  Arxoldus  Croxj]^,  Com- 
fnandant  of  the  Fotchefstrooni  DisLrict,  who  makes  oath  and  states : 

I  was,  togetlier  with  H.  P.  Malan  (Commandant  of  tlie  Paistenbarg 
District),  and  F.  J.  Potgieter  (Commandant  of  the  Krugersdorp  District),  one 
of  the  commanding  officers  of  the  burglier  forces  in  the  fights  against  Jame- , 
son.  When  I  noticed  tlie  white  flag,  I  instantly  ordered  De  la  Key  ta' 
ap]jroach  the  enemy.  Instead  of  De  la  Rey,  Hans  Klopper,  one  of  the  men- 
of  Commandant  Potgieter,  went.  He  brought  back  a  note  from  Willoughby 
to  me.  The  contents  of  the  note  were  that  if  we  left  them  to  themselves  he 
promised  to  withdraw  over  the  boundary.  In  reply,  I  sent  him  per  Hans 
Klo])per  the  following  note  : 

'  John  Willoughby, — I  acknowledge  your  note,  and  this  serves  as  reply, 
that  if  you  guarantee  the  payment  of  the  expenses  which  you  have  occasioned" 
the   South  African  Republic  and  surrender  your  iiag  togetlier  with   your 
weapons,  I  will  spare  the  life  of  you  and  yours.     Please  send  reply  withii^ 
thirty  minutes.' 

When    this  reply  was  written   by  me  neither  Malan  nor   Potgieter  waa 
present.    Thereupon  he  answered  tliat  he  accepted  the  terms,  and  surrendered"! 
himself  fully  with  all  his  arms  into  my  hands.    After  receiving  Willoughby'a 
answer,  I  rode  to  Jameson's  troo}>s  in  order  to  meet  the  other  coniuiandants, .^ 
in  accordance  with  a  note  sent  by  Commandant  Potgieter  to  the  enemy.     T; 
went  with  Field-Cornets  Slaartens  and  Van  Vuuren  to  Jameson's  troops,  and;' 
met  Jameson.     When  I  met  him  I  gave  him  to  clearly  understand  our  agree- 
ment, namely,  that  he  must  plainly  understand  that  the  last  clause  was^that. 
I  guaranteed  his  life  and  that  of  his  men  until  I  had  handed  him  over  to  ■ 
General  Joubert.     Thereupon  I  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to  lay  down  his 
flag  and  his  arms,  to  which  he  replied,  '  I  have  no  flag  ;  l^im  willing  to  lay- 
down  my  arms. '     Thereupon  I  asked  him  if  he  could  declare  upon  oath  thaife 
he  had  no  flag,  whereupon  he  declared  under  oath  that  he  had  no  flag.    Thai 
Commandant  Malan  arrived,  and  then  the  three  commanding  officers,  Malanj! 
Potgieter  and  I,  were  present  on  the  spot. 

Before  I  began  speaking  to  Malan,  Jameson  called  Willoughby.  to 
present.  Thereupon  Malan  and  I  spoke  together  about  the  surrender  0^ 
Jameson.  Whereupon  Malan  said,  '  We  can't  decide  anything  here, 
Jameson  must  surrender  unconditionally,  and  he  must  be  plainly  given 
understand  that  we  cannot  guarantee  his  life  any  longer  than  till  we  ha"? 
handed  him  over  to  General  Joubert.'  I  fully  agreed  witli  Malan,  and  the 
interpreter  Adendorff  was  then  instructed  by  the  three  commandants  jointlj 
to  convey  plainly  in  English  to  Jameson  what  the  three  commandants  hac 
agreed  upon.  After  this  had  been  done,  Jauieson  bowed,  took  his  hat  offj 
and  said  in  English  that  he  agi'eed  to  the  terras.  Thereupon  he  issued  orden 
to  Willoughby  to  command  the  subordinate  officers  to  lay  doAvn  then 
arms.     Then  the  ai-ms  were  laid  down.     I^ater  on,  afier  the  uiiis^  hail  beei 


APPENDIX  G  323 

laid  down,  Comniaiidant  Tricliardt  arjived  witli  orders  I'roni  the  Coni- 
liiaiidant-General,  and  his  terms  were  the  same  as  those  we  had  already  .laid 
down. 

P.  A.  CaoNJi'. 
Sworn  before  me  on  this  7th  day  of  March,  1896. 

H.  J.  Coster, 

State  Attorney  arid  cx-officio  J. P. 

We,  the  undersi^;ncd,  Jan.  Thos.  Maartens,  Field-Co'- -t  of  the  Ward 
Gatsrand,  District  Potchefstroom,  and  Daniel  Johannes  Jansen  van  Vnurdi, 
A-s.sislant  Field-Cornet  of  the  Ward  IBoveiisclioonspruit,  declare  under  catli 
tisat.  we  were  [)resent  at  everything  stated  in  the  foregoing  sworn  declaration 
of  Commandant  P.  A.  Cronje,  and  that  that  declaration  is  correct  Lad  in 
accordance  with  the  truth. 

Jan.  Maartens, 
D.  J.  J.  Van  Vuuren. 
Sv,-orn  before  me  on  this  the  7th  day  of  March,  1896. 

H.  J.  Coster, 

State  Attorney  and  ex-officio  J. P. 

Appeared  before  me,  HEiiMANUS  Jacob  Coster,  6tate  Attorney  and  ex-officio 
J. P.  of  the  South  African  Pepuhlic,  Frederick  Jacobus  Potgieter, 
Commandant  of  the  Krugersdorp  District,  who  makes  oath  and  stateii : 

On  the  morning  of  January  2  I  received  a  written  report  from  the  enemy, 
in  which  was  stated  that  he  would  surrender,  but  that  he  must  be  allowed  to 
go  back  over  tlie  line.  I  answered  thereon  in  writing  that  I  would  call  the 
olficers  together,  and  would  then  immediately  notify  him.  The  report 
received  by  me  I  immediately  transmitted  to  Conmiaridant  Cronje.  A  short 
time  after  I  saw  Commandant  Cronje  with  the  burghers  going  towards  the 
enemy.  I  thereupon  also  went  towards  the  enemy  and  met  Conmiandant 
Cronje  there.  I  then  attended  the  discussion  as  set  forth  in  the  declaration 
given  by  J.  S.  Celliers,  dated  March  6,  1896,  and  confirmed  by  MessrSc 
Michiel  Joseph  Adendorif  and  Benjamin  Johannes  Viljoen. 
The  purport  of  that  discussion  is  correcl  ly  rendered. 

F.  J.  Potgieter, 

Commandant,  Krugersdorp. 
This  sworn  before  me  on  this  the  6th  day  of  ]\Iarch,  1896. 

H.  J.  Coster, 

Stole  Attorney  and  ex  ofjkio  J. P. 

Appeared  before  me,  Hev.manus  Jacob  Coster,  State  Attorney  and  ex-offi,c%o 
J. P.  of  the  South  African  Republic,  Hercules  Philippus  Malan,  who 
makes  oath  and  states  : 

I  was,  together  with  P.  A.  Cronje,  Commandant  of  the  Krugersdorp 
District,  one  of  the  conmianding  forces  in  the  figlits  against  Jameson.  On 
the  morning  of  January  2  a  despatch  rider  from  Coinmandant  Potgieter  came 
up  and  informed  me  that  Jameson  had  hoisted  the  white  flag,  and  that  I 
must  quickly  attend  a  meeting  with  the  other  commandants.  When  I  came 
up  to  Jameson  I  found  Cronje  and  Potgieter  there  ;  and,  as  I  saw  that  Crou;e 
had  been  speaking  to  Jameson,  I  asked  Cronje,  *  What  is  the  subject  you 
liave  heen  sj>e,Hki;iL;- about  ?  i  also  wish  to  know  it.'  Cronje  told  me  thai  he 
had  agreed  with  Jameson  that  Jameson  would  pay  the  expenses  incurred  by 

21-2 


324  APPENDICES 

the  State,  and  that  he  (Cronje)  would  spare  the  lives  of  Jameson  and  hia 
people  till  Pretoria  was  reached. 

Thereupon  I  answered,  '  We  cannot  make  any  terms  here.  We  have  not 
the  power  to  do  so.  Jameson  must  surrender  unconditionally,  and  we  can 
only  guarantee  his  life  until  he  is  delivered  over  by  us  into  the  hands  of  the 
Commandant-General.  Then  he  will  have  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the 
Commandant-General  and  the  Government'  When  I  had  said  this.  Com- 
mandant Potgieter  answered,  '  I  agree  with  that.'  And  Commandant  Cronje 
said,  '  So  be  it,  brothers.'  Thereupon  the  interpreter  (Adendorff)  was  in- 
structed to  trail-'. .te  to  Jameson  what  had  been  spoken.  He  did  so.  Jameson 
thereupon  took  off  his  hat,  bowed,  and  replied  in  English  that  he  agreed 
thereto.  Jameson  then  ordered  Willoiighby,  who  was  present  from  the 
moment  that  I  arrived,  to  command  the  subordinate  officers  to  disarm  the 
men,  and  thereupon  the  arms  were  given  up. 

H.  P.  Malan, 

Commandant. 
Sworn  before  me  on  this  the  9th  day  of  March,  1896. 

H.  J.  Coster, 

State  Attorney  and  ex-officio  J. P. 


Appeared  before  me,  Hermanus  Jacob  Coster,  State  Attorney  and  ex-oj, 
J.  P.    of  the  South  African  Rejmhlic,    Jan   Stephanus   Celliers,    of 
Pretoria,  who  makes  oath  and  states  : 

I  came  up  to  Jameson  and  his  troops  on  the  second  of  January  (after 
Jameson  had  hoisted  the  white  flag),  together  with  B.  J.  Viljoen,  Krugers- 
dorp,  and  another  Viljoen,  whose  place  of  residence  is  unknown  to  me.  I 
asked  one  of  Jameson's  troopers  wliere  he  was.  He  showed  me  the  direction 
and  the  place  where  Jameson  was.  Jameson  thereupon  approached  me,  and 
I  greeted  him.  While  this  took  place,  Commandant  Cronje,  the  interpreter 
(Adendorff),  and  another  man,  whose  name  is  unknown  to  me,  came.  Cronje 
was  thereupon  introduced  by  Adendorff,  who  spoke  English,  to  Jameson. 
Thereupon  Cronje  said  to  Jameson,  '  I  understand  that  you  and  your  men  will 
surrender  yourselves  with  your  flag  and  everything  you  possess  V  Jameson 
said  thereupon,  '  I  fight  under  no  flag.' 

Cronje  then  replied,  'Then  I  must  believe  you  upon  your  word  that  you 
have  no  flag  V  Jameson  then  said,  '  I  declare  under  oath  that  I  possess  no 
flag.'  This  conversation  was  interpreted  word  for  word  by  Adendorfl".  Shortly 
afterwards  Commandant  Malan  also  arrived  there.  He  asked,  'What  is  up 
here  ?  Tell  me  the  news  also.'  Then  Cronje  told  Malan  that  Jameson  would 
surrender  conditionally,  whereupon  Malan  said  in  eft'ect,  'There  can  be  no 
question  of  a  conditional  surrender  here,  because  we  have  no  right  to  make 
terms.  The  surrender  must  take  place  unconditionally.  If  terms  must  be 
made,  it  must  take  place  at  Pretoria.  We  can  only  guarantee  his  life  and 
that  of  his  men  as  long  as  they  are  under  us,  and  until  the  moment  when 
they  are  handed  over  to  the  Commandant' 

General  Cronje  answered  thereupon,  '  So  be  it,  brother.'  Then  AdendorflF 
asked  if  he  had  to  interpret  this  to  Jameson,  whereupon  Malan  said,  '  Yes,' 
and  thereupon  said  in  English  to  Jameson,  'This  is  Commandant  Malan. 
He  wishes  you  to  distinctly  understand  that  no  terms  can  be  made  here.  We 
have  no  right  to  make  terms  here.  Terms  will  be  made  by  the  Government 
of  the  South  African  Republic.  He  can  only  secure  your  lives  to  Pretoria, 
until  you  are  handed  over  to  the  Commandant- General  at  Pretoria.' 

In  reply,  Jameson  took  off  his  hat,  bowed,  stepped  backwards  and  said,  *  I 
accept  your  terms.'    Thereupon  Jameson  ordered  Willoughby  to  command 


APPENDIX  G  325 

the  subordinate  officers  that  the  troopers  should  lay  down  their  arms.  The 
arms  were  then  laid  down. 

J.  S.  Celliees. 
Sworn  before  me  on  the  6th  March,  1896. 

H.  J.  Coster. 

State  Attorney  and  ex-qffido  J.  P. 

We,  the  undersigned,  Benjamin  Johannes  Viljoen  and  Michiel  Joseph 
AdendorfF,  the  persons  mentioned  in  the  preceding  declaration,  declare  under 
oath  that  the  facts  stated  therein,  which  we  witnessed,  as  stated  above,  are 
true  and  correct. 

B.  J.  Viljoen. 
M.  J.  Adexdorff. 
Sworn  before  me  on  the  6th  March,  1896. 

H.  J.  Coster, 

State  Attorney  and  ex-offido  J.  P. 

Colonial  Office  to  War  Office. 

Downing  Street,  April  21,  1896. 
Sib, 

I  am  directed  by  Mr.  Secretary  Chamberlain  to  request  that  you  will 
lay  before  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  the  undermentioned  papers  on  the 
subject  of  the  surrender  of  Dr.  Jameson's  force  to  the  Boers. 

1.  A  despatch  from  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  enclosing  sworn  declarations 
taken  by  the  Government  of  the  South  African  Republic.  A  telegraphic 
summary  of  these  declarations  was  laid  before  Dr.  Jameson,  whose  observa- 
tions are  contained  in — 

2.  A  letter  from  the  solicitor  for  Dr.  Jameson  and  his  fellow  defendants. 

3.  A  despatch  from  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  enclosing  a  sworn  statement. 
Lord  Lansdowne  will  observe  from   Sir   H.  Robinson's   despatch   of  the 

16th  March  that  the  declarations  taken  by  the  Government  of  the  South 
African  Republic  were  submitted  to  the  General  Officer  commanding  at  the 
Cape,  who  gave  his  opinion  that  the  surrender  was  unconditional. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  would  be  obliged  if  Lord  Lansdowne  would  submit  these 
papers  to  his  military  advisers,  and  obtain  from  them  their  opinion  as  to  the 
terras  of  the  surrender,  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  thinks  was  completed  on  Sir 
John  Willoughby's  acceptance  of  Commandant  Cronje's  terms,  and  was 
therefore  subject  to  these  terms  and  conditions. 

I  am,  etc., 

R.  H.  Meade. 

War  Office  to  Colonial  Office, 
Received  April  28,  1896. 

War  Office,  London,  S.  W.,  Apnl  27,  1896. 

Sir, 

I  am  directed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  War  to  acknowledge  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  the  21st  inst.,  on  the  subject  of  the  surrender  of  Dr.  Jame- 
son's force  to  the  Boers. 

In  reply,  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  having  consulted  with  his  military 
adviser,  desires  me  to  observe  that,  whatever  position  Mr.  Cronje  may  hold 
in  the  Transvaal  array,  he  decidedly  on  the  occasion  in  question  acted  as  an 
officer  in  authority,  and  guaranteed  the  lives  of  Dr.  Jameson  and  all  his  men 
if  they  at  once  laid  down  their  arms. 


825  APPENDICES 

The  terras  prescribed  were  accepted  by  Dr.  Jameson's  force,  and  they 
surrendered  and  Liid  down  their  arms,  and  no  subsequent  discussion  amongst 
tl.e  Tiansvaal  officers  could  retract  the  terms  of  this  surrender, 

1  am  therefore  to  acquaint  you,  for  the  information  of  the  Secretary  of 
S<ate  for  the  Colonies,  that  the  Seci-etary  of  State  for  War  concurs  witJi 
Mr.  Chamberlain  in  considering  that  the  surrender  Avas  completed  on  Sir 
John  Willoughby's  acceptance  of  Commandant  Cronje's  terms,  and  was 
subjeci;  to  these  terms  and  conditions. 

I  am,  etc. 

Arthur  L.  Haliburton. 


APPENDIX   H 

SIR  JOHN  WILLOUGHBY'S  REPORT  TO  THE  WAR  OFFICE. 

T:je  subjoined  document  is  printed  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  supplied  to 
tne  author  by  a  journalist,  to  whom  it  had  been  given  as  a  ftiir  statement  of 
the  case.  The  marginal  remarks  are  the  notes  made  by  a  member  of  the  Reform 
Corjimittee  to  whom  it  was  shown. 

OFFICIAL  REPORT  OF  THE  EXPEDITION  THAT  LEFT  THE 
PROTECTORATE  AT  THE  URGENT  REQUEST  OF  THE  LEADING 
CITIZENS  OF  JOHANNESBURG  AffPrth..  ),.ri  H.f.n +>,«  <„.„„.<•■ 
WITH  THE  OBJECT  OF  STANDING    let^^^n.^I.^tlrlf to^?)r."]^^^^^^^^^ 

BY      THEM       AND      MAINTAINING     (December  27):  'We  will  make  our 
LAW   AND    ORDER    WHILST    THEY      ovvn  flutaiiun  by  the  aid  of  the  letter 

WERE  DEMANDING  JUSTICE  FROM    ''''"'^''  ^ '"'  '^^  i'uo.i«h. 

THE  TRANSVAAL  AUTHORITIES.    By  SIR  JOHN  C.  WILLOUGHBY, 

Bart.,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Commanding  Dr.  Jameson's  Forces. 

On  Saturday,  December  28,  189.5,  Dr.  Jameson  received  a  Renter's  telegram 
siiowing  that  the  situation  at  Johannesburg  The  ..ame  time  hs  ho  got  the  to!o- 
luid  become  acute.  At  the  same  tim.e  re-  grains  from  Johannesburg  arid  mes- 
liable  information  was  received  that  the  s-^^es  by  Heany  and  Holden  on  no 
Bners  in  the  Zeerust  and  Lichtenburg  ^'=<'^^^^  ^"^  ^''^«- 
districts  were  assembling,  and  had  been  summoned  to  march  on  Johannes- 
burg. 

Prei)arations  were  at  once  made  to  act  on  the  terms  of  the  letter  dated 
December  20,  and  already  published,  and  also  in  accordance  with  verbal 
arrangf,ments  with  -the  signatories  of  that 

letter— viz.,  that  should  Dr.  Jameson  hear  ^"^.'I'^'^^^ri"  *^^  ^'f^''^  ?^°^- 
J.-     J.    j.!_      T>  n     J.-  J    j,i     i.     monds,  Phillips  s,  and  Sam  Jame- 

tuat  the  Boers  were  collectmg,   and  tliat     son's  wires  not  to  move, 
the  intentions  of  the  Johannesburg  people 

had  become  generally  knoAvn,  he  was  at  once  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  latter 
i,(-ith  whatever  lorce  he  had  available,  and  without  further  reference  to  them, 
the  object  being  that  such  force  should  reach  Johannesburg  without  any 
conflict. 

At  3  p.m.  on  Sunday  afternoon,  December  29,  everything  was  in  readiness 
at  Pitsani  Camp. 

Tlie  troo])S  were  paraded,  and  Dr.  Jameson  read  the  letter  of  invitation 
from  Johaiiiiosburg. 

He  then  explaijied  to  the  force  (a)  that  no  hostilities  vrere  intended  ; 
{h)  that  we  should  only  fight  if  forced  to  do  so  in  self-defence;    (c)  that 


APPENDIX  H  327 

neither  the  persons  nor  property  of  inhabitants  of  the  Transvaal  were  to  be 
molested ;  {d)  that  our  sole  object  was  to  help  our  fellow-men  iu  their  extremit^^, 
and  to  ensure  their  obtaining  attention  to  tlieir  just  demands. 

Dr.  Jameson's  speecli  was  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  by  the 
men,  who  cheered  most  heartily. 

The  above  programme  Avas  strictly  adhered  to  until  the  column  Avas  fired 
upon  on  the  night  of  the  31st. 

Many  Boers,  singly  and  in  small  parties,  were  encountered  on  the  line  of 
march  ;  to  one  and  all  of  these  the  pacific  nature  of  the  expedition  was  care- 
fully explained. 

The  force  left  Pitsani  Camp  at  6.30  p.m.,  December  29,  and  marched  Stirtfrom 
through  the  night.  Pitsani. 

At  5.15  a.m.  on  the  morning  of  the  30th  the  column  reached  the  village 
of  Malmani  (39  miles  distant  from  Pitsani). 

Precisely  at  the  same  moment  the  advanced  guard  of  the  Mafeking  Column  .Junction 
(under  Colonel  Grev)  reached   the   village,   and   the  junction  was   effected  t^ffected  at 
between  the  two  bodies.  ^  withTfi  P 

For  details  of  the  composition  of  the  combined  force,  as  also  for  general 
particulars  of  the  march  to  Krugersdorp,  see  sketch  of  the  route  and  schedule 
attached  (marked  A.  and  B.  respectively). 

From  Malmani  I  pushed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  order  to  cross  in  day-  Defile  at 
light  tlie  very  dangerous  defile  at  Lead  Mines.     This  place,  distant  71  miles  Ic  id -mines 
from  Pitsani,  was  passed  at  5  30  p.m.,  December  30.  pissed. 

I  was  subsequently  informed  that  a  force  of  several  hundred  Boers,  sent 
from  Lichtenburg  to  intercept  the  force  at  this  point,  missed  doing  so  by  three 
hours  only. 

At  our  next  'off-saddle'  Dr.  Jameson  received  a  letter  from  the  Com-  Letter  from 
mandant- General  of  the  Transvaal  demanding  to  know  the  reason  of  our  ^.^j^°^*^" 
advance,  and  ordering  us  to  return  immediately.     A  reply  was  sent  to  this.  General. 
ex]ilaining  Dr.  Jameson's  reasons  in  the  same  terms  as  those  used  to  the  force 
at  Pitsani. 

At  Doornport  (91  miles  from  Pitsani),  during  an  *  off-saddle'  early  on  Letter  froi. 
Tuesday  morning,  December  31,  a  mounted  messenger  overtook  us,  and  pre-  -^j"^^  ^'^™" 
seated  a  letter  from  the  High  Commissioner,  which  contained  an  order  to 
Dr.  Jameson  and  myself  to  return  at  once  to  Mafekiug  and  Pitsani. 

A  retreat  by  now  was  out  of  the  question,   and   to  comply  with  these  Reasons  foi 
instructions  an  impossibility.     In  the  first  place,  there  was  absolutely  no  ?^ot  retreat- 
food  for  men  or   horses   along  the  road  which  Ave   had  recently  followed  ;  "^^* 
secondly,  three  days  at  least  would  be  necessary  for  our  horses,  jaded  with 
forced  marching,  to  return  ;  on  the  road  ahead  Ave  Avere  sure  of  finding,  at  all 
events,  some  food  for  man  and  beast.     Furthermore,  Ave  had  by  noAv  traversed 
almost  two  thirds  of  the  total  distance  ;  a  large  force  of  Boers  was  known  to 
be  intercepting  our  retreat,  and  Vve  Avere  convinced  that  any  retrograde  move- 
ment Avould  bring  an  attack  of  Boers  from  all  sides. 

It  AA-as  felt,  therefore,  that  to  ensure  the  safety  of  our  little  force,  no 
alternative  remained  but  to  push  on  to  Krugersdorp  to  our  friends,  Avho  we 
Avere  confident  Avoiild  be  awaiting  our  arriA'al  there. 

.         ,     «            . ,          ,                     •  1       J."  They  could  not  possibly  know  it 

Apart  from    the    above    considerations,  because  the  rising-i.e.,  the  public 

even  had  it  been  possible  to  effect  a  retreat  a ming  and  moving  of  men— only 

from  Doornport,  Ave  knew  that  Johannes-  began  at  the  very  hour  they  claim 

1           11-                 1    x-  ij.   J 1     i.   -u      J.         •  to  iiave  known,  it,  and  because  the 

burg  had  risen,  and   felt  tnat  by  turning  g^^^  news  from  Johannesburg  only 

back   Ave   should  be   shamefully   deserting  reached  tht-m  l'4  hours  later  by  the 

those  coming  to  meet  U3.  two  cyclists.     '  Oh  what  a  tangled 

web  we  weave,  when ' 


328 


APPENDICES 


Finally,  it  appeared  to  us  impossible  to  turn  back  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
we  had  been  urgently  called  in  to  avert  a 

massacre,     which    we    had    been     assured         ^i^^  tlie  telegrams  and  messages 
would  be  imminent  in  the  event  of  a  crisis     ^  ^^^P '    ^^^  ^"^^^  ' 
such  as  had  now  occurred. 

Near  Boon's  store,  on  the  evening  of  the  Slst,  an  advanced  patrol  fell  in 
with  Lieutenant  ElofF,  of  the  Kvugersdorp  Volunteers.  This  officer,  in  charge 
of  a  party  of  15  scouts,  had  come  out  to  gain  intelligence  of  our  movements. 
He  was  detained  whilst  our  intentions  were  fully  explained  to  him,  and  then 
released  at  Dr.  Jameson's  request. 

At  midnight  (New  Year's  Eve),  while  the  advanced  scouts  were  crossing 
a  rocky  wooded  ridge  at  right  angles  to  and  barring  the  line  of  advance,  they 
were  tired  on  by  a  party  of  40  Boers,  who  had  posted  themselves  in  this 
position.  The  scouts,  reinforced  by  the  advanced  guard,  under  Inspector 
Straker,  drove  off  their  assailants  after  a  short  skirmish,  during  which  one 
trooper  of  the  M.M.P.  was  woimded. 

At  Van  Oudtshoorn's,  early  on  the  following  morning  (January  1), 
Dr.  Jameson  received  a  second  letter  from  the  High  Conmiissioner,  to  which 
he  replied  in  writing. 

At  9.30  a.m.  the  march  was  resumed  in  the  usual  day  formation.  After 
marching  two  miles,  the  colunm  got  clear  of  the  hills  and  emerged  into  open 
country. 

About  this  time  Inspector  Drury,  in  command  of  the  rearguard,  sent  word 
that  a  force  of  about  100  Boers  was  following  him  about  one  mile  in  rear.  I 
thereupon  reinforced  the  rearsjaard,  hitherto  consisting  of  a  troop  and  one 
Maxim,  by  an  additional  half- troop  and  another  Maxim. 

About  five  miles  beyond  Van  Oudtshoorn's  store  the  column  was  met  by 
two  cyclists  bearing  letters  from  several  leaders  of  the  Johannesbni'g  Reform 
Committee.  These  letters  exju'essed  the  liveliest  approval  and  delight  at  our 
speedy  approach,  and  finally  contained  a  renewal  of  their  promises  to  meet 
the  colunm  with  a  force  m  Krugersdorp.^  The  messengers  also  reported  that 
only  300  armed  Boers  were  in  the  town. 

This  news  was  communicated  to  the  troops,  who  received  it  with  loud 
cheers. 

When  within  two  miles  of  Hind's  store,  the  column  was  delayed  by  exten- 
sive wire-fencing,  which  ran  for  one  and  a  half  miles  on  either  side  of  the 
road,  and  practically  constituted  a  defile. 

While  the  column  was  halted  and  the  wire  being  cut,  the  country  for  some 
distance  on  both  sides  was  carefully  scouted. 

By  this  means  it  was  ascertained  that  there  was  a  considerable  force  of 
Boers  (1)  on  the  left  front,  (2)  in  the  immediate  front  (retreating  hastily  on 
Krugersdorp),  (3)  a  third  party  on  the  right  flank. 

The  force  which  had  been  following  the  colunm  from  Van  Oudtshoorn's 
continued  to  hover  in  the  rear. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  White,  in  command  of  the  advanced  guard,  sent  back 
a  request  for  guns  to  be  pushed  forward  as  a  precaution  in  case  of  an 
attack  from  the  Boers  in  front.  By  the  time  these  guns  reached  the  advanced 
guard,  the  Boers  were  stiU  retreating  some  two  miles  off.  A  few  rounds  were 
then  fired  in  their  direction.  Had  Colonel  White,  in  the  first  instance, 
opened  fire  with  liis  Maxims  on  the  Boers,  whom  he  surprised  watering  their 
horses  close  to  Hind's  store,  considerable  loss  would  have  been  inflicted  ;  but 
this  was  not  our  object,  for,  with  the  exception  of  the  small  skirmish  on  the 


I  The  letters  are  published  in  their  proper  place,  and  readers  can  satisfy  themselves  as 
to  whether  they  justify  the  above  inference. 


APPENDIX  H  329 

previous  night,  the  Boers  liad  not  as  yet  molested  the  column,  Avhose  sole  ain; 
was  to  reach  Johannesburg  if  possible  without  fighting. 

At  this  hour  Hind's  store  was  reached.  l-^^O  P-n»- 

Here  the  troops  rested  for  one  and  a  half  hours. 

Unfortunately,  hardly  any  provisions  for  men  and  horses  were  avail- 
able. 

An  officers'  patrol,  consisting  of  Major  Villiers  (Royal  Horse  Guards)  and  3  P-i". 
Lieutenant  Grenfell  (1st  Life  Guards)  and  six  men,  moved  oft'  for  the  purpose 
of  reconnoitring  the  left  flank  of  the  Boer  position,  while  Captaiu  Lindsell, 
with  his  permanent  force  of  advance  scouts,  pushed  on  as  usual  to  reconnoitre 
the  approach  by  the  main  road.  At  the  same  time  I  forwarded  a  note  to  the 
Commandant  of  the  forces  in  Krugersdorp  to  the  effect  that,  in  the  event  of 
my  friendly  force  meeting  with  opposition  on  its  approach,  I  friendly ! 
should  be  forced  to  shell  the  town,  and  that  therefore  I  gave  him 
this  warning  in  order  that  the  women  and  children  might  be  moved  out  of 
danger. 

To  this  note,  which  was  despatched  by  a  Boer  who  had  been  detained  at 
Van  Oudtshoorn,  I  received  no  reply. 

At  Hind's  store  we  were  informed  that  the  force  in  our  front  had  increased 
during  the  forenoon  to  about  800  men,  of  whom  a  large  number  were 
entrenched  on  the  hillside. 

Four  miles  beyond  Hind's  store,  the  column  following  the  scouts,  which  4.30  p.m. 
met  with  no  opposition,  ascended  a  steep  rise  of  some  400  feet,  and  came  full 
in  view  of  the  Boer  position  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  deep  valley,  traversed 
by  a  broad  '  sluit,'  or  muddy  watercourse. 

Standing  on  the  plateau,  or  spur,  on  which  our  force  was  forming  up  for 
action,  the  view  to  our  front  was  as  follows  : 

Passing  through  our  position  to  the  west  ran  the  Hind's  store-Krugers- 
dorp  road  traversing  the  valley  and  the  Boer  position  almost  at  right  angles 
to  both  lines. 

Immediately  to  the  north  of  this  road,  at  the  point  where  it  disappeared 
over  the  sky-line  on  the  opposite  slope,  lay  the  Queen's  Battery  House  and 
earthworks,  completely  commanding  the  valley  on  all  sides  and  distant 
1,900  yards  from  our  standpoint. 

Some  1,000  yards  down  the  valley  to  the  north  stood  a  farmhouse,  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  plantation,  which  Hanked  the  valley. 

Half-way  up  the  opposite  slope,  and  adjacent  to  the  road,  stood  an  iron 
house  which  commanded  the  drift  where  the  road  crossed  the  above-mentioned 
watercourse. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  road,  and  immediately  opposite  the  last-named 
iron  house,  an  extensive  rectangular  stone  wall  enclosure  with  high  trees 
formed  an  excellent  advanced  central  defensive  position.  Further  up  the 
slope,  some  500  yards  to  the  south  of  this  enclosure,  stretched  a  line  of  rifle- 
pits,  which  were  again  flanked  to  the  south  by  'prospecting  '  trenches.  On 
the  sky-line  numbers  of  Boers  were  apparent  to  our  front  and  right  front. 

Before  reaching  the  plateau  we  had  observed  small  parties  of  Boers  hurry- 
ing towards  Krugersdorp,  and  immediately  on  reaching  the  high  ground  the 
rear- guard  was  attacked  by  the  Boer  force  which  had  followed  tlie  column 
during  the  whole  morning. 

I  therefore  had  no  further  hesitation  in  opening  fire  on  the  Krugersdorp 
position. 

The  two  7-pounder3  and  the  12^-pounder        it  must  have  been  here  that  the  4.30  p.m. 
opened  on  the  Boer  line,  making  good  prac-     waggon-loads  of  dead  Boers  weren't 
tice  under  Captain  Kincaid-Smith  and  Cap-     ^^und. 
tain  Gosling  at  1,900  yards. 


830  APFEN  DICES 

6  p.m.  Xhis  fire  was  kept  up  until  5  p.m.     The  Boers  made  practically  no  reply, 

but  lay  quiet  in  the  trenches  and  batter}''. 

Scouts  having  reported  that  most  of  the  trenches  were  evacuated,  the  first 
line,  consisting  of  the  advanced  guard  (a  troop  of  100  men),  under  Colonel 
White,  advanced.  Two  Maxims  accompanied  tliis  force  ;  a  strong  troop  with 
a  Maxim  formed  the  right  and  left  supports  on  either  Hank. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Grey,  with  one  troop  B.B.P.  and  one  Maxim,  had  been 
previously  detailed  to  move  round  and  attack  the  Boers'  left. 

The  remaining  two  troops,  witli  three  Maxims,  formed  the  reserve  and  rear- 
guard. 

The  first  line  adv^ance  continued  unopposed  to  within  200  yards  of  the 
watercourse,  when  it  was  checked  by  an  exceedingly  heavy  cross-fire  from  all 
points  of  the  defence. 

Color  el  White  then  pushed  his  skirmishers  forward  into  and  beyond  the 
w^atercourse. 

The  left  support  under  Inspector  Dj'^kes  then  advanced  to  prolong  the  first 
line  to  the  left,  but,  diverging  too  much  to  his  left,  this  officer  experienced 
a  very  hot  flanking  fire  from  the  farmhouse  and  plantation,  and  was  driven 
back  with  some  loss. 

Colonel  Grey  meanwhile  had  pushed  round  on  the  extreme  right  and  come 

into  action. 

5.30  p.m.         About  this  time  Major  Villiers'  patrol  returned  aiid  reported  that  the  country 

to  our  right  was  open,  and  that  we  could  easily  move  round  in  tliat  direction. 

It  was  now  evident  that  the  Boers  were  in  great  force,  and  intended  holding 

their  position. 

Without  the  arrival  of  the  Johannesburg  When  Celliers  and  Rowlands  left 
force  in  rear  of  the  Boers— an  event  which  I  t'^era  at  ll  a.m.  they  had  not  ex- 
had  been  „,o„u.nta,-ily  expocti„g-I  dkl  not  S'gS  h'.  ^tSe'L'SSl?'"' 
feel  justified  in  pushmg  a  general  attock, 

which  would  have  certainly  entailed  heavy  losses  on  my  small  force. 
6.15  p.m.  I  accordingly  left  Inspector  Drury  with  one  troop  and  one  Maxim  to  keep 
in  check  the  Boers  who  were  now  lining  the  edge  of  the  plateau  to  our  left, 
and  placed  Colonel  Grey  with  two  troops  B.  B.P.,  one  12^  pounder,  and  one 
Maxim  to  cover  our  left  flank  and  continue  firing  on  the  battery  and  trenches 
south  of  the  road. 

I  then  made  a  general  flank  movement  to  the  right  with  the  remaining  troops. 

Colonel  Grey  succeeded  in  shelling  the  Boers  out  of  tlieir  advanced  position 

during  the  next  half-hour,  and  blew  up  the  battery-house. 

Flank  Under  this  cover  the  colunm  moved  off"  as  far  as  the  first  houses  of  the 

uiovement.  Randfontein  gi'oup  of  mines,  the  Boers  making  no  attempt  to  intercept  the 

movement. 

Night  was  now  fast  approaching,  and  still  there  were  no  signs  of  the 
promised  help  from  Johaiiuesburg.  I  determined,  therefore,  to  push  on  with 
all  speed  in  the  direction  of  that  town,  trusting  in  the  darkness  to  slip 
through  any  intervening  opposition. 

Two  guides  were  obtained,  the  column  formed  in  the  prescribed  night  order 
of  march,  and  we  started  off  along  a  road  leading  direct  to  Johannesburg. 

At  this  moment  heavy  rifle  and  Maxim  fire  was  suddenly  heard  from  the 
direction  of  Krugersdorp,  wj\ich  lay  1^  miles  to  the  left  rear. 

We  at  once  concluded  that  this  could  only  be  the  arrival  of  the  long- 
awaited  reinforcements,  for  we  knew  that  ,.„,,. 
Tnhaiinpqburo-   had    Ma-ims     and    tint   the         Long  awaited  !  Why,  this  was  only 
JonannesDu  g  nau  iua.ums,  ana  rnat  tne     ^  ).ovirs  since  the  cvciists  left. 
Staats  -Artillery  v/ere  not  expected  to  arrive 
i          until  the  following  morning.     To  leave  our  supposed  friends  in  the  lurch  was 
out  of  the  question.     I  determined  at  once  to  move  to  their  support. 

Leaving  tiie  carts  escorted  by  one  troop  on  the  road,  I  advanced  rapidly 


APPENDIX  H  831 

across  the  plateau  towards  Krugersdorp  in  the  direction  of  th©  firing,  in  the 
ibriTiatiou  shown  in  the  accompiuiying  sketch, 

After  advancing  thus  for  nearly  a  mile  tlie  firing  ceased,  and  we  perceived 
the  Boers  moving  in  great  force  to  meet  the  column.  The  flankers  on  the 
right  reported  another  force  threatening  that  fiank. 

Fearing  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  cut  us  off  from  the  ammunition 
carts,  I  ordered  a  retreat  on  them. 

It  was  now  clear  that  the  firing,  whatever  might  have  been  the  cause  thereof, 
was  not  occasioned  by  the  arrival  of  any  force  from  Johannesburg. 

Precious  moments  had  been  lost  in  the  attempt  to  stand  by  our  friends  at 

all  costs,  under  the  mistaken  supposition  that  they  could  not  fail  to  carry 

out  their  repeated  promises,^  renewed  to  us  m-    •        m  -c      *., 

1      ,    ,^  S   J   1      ■^,-,  ,1  .  1  This  18  really  magnificent ! 

by  letter  so  lately  as  11  a.m.  tnis  same  day. 

It  was  now  very  nearly  dark.  In  the  dusk  the  Boers  could  be  seen  closin;^ 
in  on  three  sides — viz.,  north,  east,  and  south.  The  road  to  Johannesburg 
appeared  com])letely  barred,  and  the  last  opportunity  .of  slipping  througn, 
which  had  presented  itself  an  hour  ago  Avhen  tlie  renewed  firing  was  heard, 
was  gone,  not  to  return. 

Nothing  remained  but  to  bivouac  in  the  best  position  available.  Bivouac, 

But  for  the  unfortunate  circumstance  of  the  firing,  which  we  afterwards  January  i 
heard  was  due  to  the  exultation  of  the  Boers  at  the  arrival  of  large  reinforce- 
ments from  Potciiefstroom,  the  column  would  have  been  by  this  time  (7  p.m.) 
at  least  four  or  five  miles  further  on  the  road  to  Johannesburg,  with  an  excel- 
lent chance  of  reaching  that  town  without  further  opposition. 

I  moved  the  column  to  the  edge  of  a  wide  vley  to  the  right  of  the  road, 
and  formed  the  horses  in  quarter-column  under  cover  of  the  slope.  The  carts 
were  formed  up  in  rear  and  on  both  fianks,  and  five  Maxims  were  placed  along 
the  front  so  as  to  sweep  the  plateau. 

The  other  three  Maxims  and  the  heavy  guns  were  posted  on  the  rear  and 
fiank  faces. 

The  men  were  then  directed  to  lie  down  between  the  guns  and  on  the  side  ; 
sentries  and  cossack  posts  were  posted  on  each  face. 

Meanwhile  the  Boers  had  occupied  the  numei'ous  prospecting  trenches  and 
cuttings  on  the  plateau  at  distances  from  400  to  800  yards. 

At  9  p.m.  a  heavy  fire  was  opened  on  the  bivouac,  and  a  storm  of  bullets  ^  P-"^- 
swept  over  and  around  us,  apparentl}'  directed  from  all  sides  except  the  south- 
west. 

The  troops  were  protected  by  their  position  on  the  slope  below  the  level  of 
tlje  plateau,  so  that  the  total  loss  from  this  fire,  which  lasted  about  twenty 
minutes,  was  very  inconsiderable. 

The  men  behaved  with  admirable  coolness,  and  were  as  cheery  as  possible, 
although  very  tii'cd  and  hungry  and  without  water. 

We  were  then  left  unmolested  tor  two  or  three  hours. 

About  midnight  another  shower  of  bullets  was  poured  into  the  camp,  but  Midnight. 
the  fu-ing  was  not  kept  up  for  long. 

Somewhat  later  a  Maxim  gun  opened  on  the  bivouac,  but  failed  to  get  our 
range. 

At  3.30  a.m.  patrols  were  pushed  out  on  all  sides,  while  the  force  as  silently  Thursday, 
and  rapidly  as  possible  was  got  ready  to  move  oif.  January  2. 

At  4  a.m.  a  heavy  fire  was  opened  by  the  Boers  on  the  column,  and  the 
patrols  driv(n  in  fi-om  tJie  north  and  east  sides. 

""■"*,  July,  1890.     In  the  Rpport  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons 
of  1897),  pape  29S,  »re  the  following  : 
ci'Miry  Campbell- Banncrman;   Did   you  understand  that  you   were   to  meet  a 
.derable  force  at  Kruge-sdorp  coming  from  Johannesburg? 
■  Sir  John  Willoughby :  Kot  icken  we  started  from  Pitsani,  but  certainly  after  the  letters 
received  from  the  cyclistp.' 


332  APPENDICES 

Under  the  direction  of  Major  R.  White  (assisted  by  Lieutenant  Jesser-Ooope) 
the  column  was  formed  undercover  of  the  slope 

Soon  after  this  the  patrols  which  had  been  sent  out  to  the  south  returned, 
and  reported  that  the  ground  was  clear  of  the  Boers  in  that  direction. 

The  growing  light  enabled  us  to  ascertain  that  the  Boers  in  force  were 
occupying  pits  to  our  left  and  lining  the  railway  embankment  for  a  distance 
of  one  and  a  half  miles  right  across  the  direct  road  to  Johannesburg, 

I  covered  the  movements  of  the  main  body  with  the  B.B.P.  and  two  Maxims 
under  Colonel  Grey  along  the  original  left  front  of  the  bivouac,  and  two  troops 
M.M.P.,  under  Major  R.  White,  on  the  right  front. 

During  all  this  time  the  firing  was  excessively  heavy  ;  however,  the  main 
body  was  partially  sheltered  by  the  slope. 

Colonel  Wliite  then  led  the  advance  for  a  mile  across  the  vley  without 
casualty,  but  on  reaching  the  opposite  rise  near  the  Oceanic  Mine,  was  sub- 
jected to  a  very  heavy  long-range  fire.  Colonel  White  hereupon  very  judi- 
ciously threw  out  one  troop  to  the  left  to  cover  the  further  advance  of  the 
main  body. 

This  was  somewhat  delayed,  after  crossing  the  rise,  by  the  disappearance  of 
our  volunteer  guide  of  the  previous  night. 

Some  little  time  elapsed  before  another  guide  could  be  obtained. 

In  the  meantime,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Grey  withdrew  his  force  and  the 
covering  I^laxims  out  of  action  under  the  protection  of  the  M.  M.  P.  covering 
troops,  and  rejoined  the  main  body. 

At  this  juncture  Colonel  Grey  was  shot  in  the  foot,  but  most  gallantly 
insisted  on  carrying  on  his  duties  until  the  close  of  the  action. 

Sub-Inspector  Cazalet  was  also  wounded  here,  but  continued  in  action  until 
he  was  shot  again  in  the  chest  at  Doornkop. 

While  crossing  the  ridge  the  column  was  subjected  to  a  very  heavy  fire,  and 
several  men  and  horses  were  lost  here. 

I  detailed  a  rearguard  of  one  troop  and  two  Maxims,  under  Major  E,.  White, 
to  cover  our  rear  and  left  flank,  and  move  the  remainder  of  the  troops  in  the 
ordinary  day  formation  as  rapidly  forward  as  possible. 

In  this  formation  a  running  rear  and  flank  guard  fight  was  kept  up  for  ten 
miles.  Wherever  the  features  of  the  ground  admitted,  a  stand  was  made  by 
various  small  detachments  of  the  rear  and  flank  guard.  In  tins  manner  the 
Boers  were  successfully  kept  a  distance  of  500  yards,  and  repulsed  in  all  their 
eff'orts  to  reach  the  rear  and  flank  of  the  main  body. 

In  passing  through  the  various  mines  and  the  village  of  Randfontein  we 
met  with  hearty  expressions  of  goodwill  from  the  mining  population,  who 
professed  a  desire  to  help  if  only  they  had  arms. 

Ten  miles  from  the  start  I  received  intelligence  from  Colonel  Grey,  at  the 
head  of  the  column,  that  Doornkop,  a  hill  near  the  Speitfontein  mine,  was 
held  by  400  Boers,  directly  barring  our  line  of  advance. 

I  repaired  immediately  to  the  front.  Colonel  White  remaining  with  the 
rear-guard. 

On  arriving  at  the  head  of  the  column,  I  found  the  guns  shelling  a  ridge 
which  our  guide  stated  was  Doornkop. 

The  excellent  dispositions  for  the  attack  made  by  Colonel  Grey  were  then 
cai-ried  out. 

The  B.B.P.,  under  Major  Coventry,  who  I  regret  to  say  was  severely 
wounded  and  lost  several  of  his  men,  attacked  and  cleared  the  ridge  in  most 
gallant  style  and  pushed  on  beyond  it. 

About  this  time  Inspector  Barry  received  the  wound  which  we  have  learnt 
with  grief  has  subsequently  proved  fatal. 

Chief- Inspector  Bodle  at  the  same  time,  with  two  troops  M.M.P,,  charged, 
and  drove  off"  the  field  a  large  force  of  Boers  threatening  our  left  flank. 


APPENDIX  H  333 

The  guide  had  informed  ua  that  the  road  to  the  right  of  the  hill  was  im- 
passable, and  that  there  was  open  and  easy  country  to  the  left. 

This  information  was  misleading.  I  afterwards  ascertained  that  without 
storming  the  Boer  position  there  Avas  no  road  open  to  Johannesburg  except  by 
a  wide  detour  of  many  miles  to  the  right. 

At  this  moment  Dr.  Jameson  received  a  letter  from  the  High  Commissioner  8.30  a.m. 
again  ordering  us  to  desist  in  our  advance.     Dr.  Jameson  informed  me  at  the 
same  time  of  the  most  disheartening  neAvs,   viz.,   that  he   had  received  a 
message  stating  that  Johannesburg  would  not  or  could  not  come  to  our  assist- 
ance, and  that  we  must  tight  our  way  through  unaided. 

Thinking  that  the  fii'st  ridge  now  in  our  hands  was  Doornkop,  we  again 
pushed  rapidly  on,  only  to  find  that  in  rear  of  the  ridge  another  steep  and 
stony  kopje,  some  400  feet  in  height,  was  held  by  hundreds  of  Boers,  com- 
pletely covered  from  our  fire. 

This  kopje  effectually  flanked  the  road  over  which  the  column  must  advance 
at  a  distance  of  400  yards.  Scouting  showed  that  there  was  no  way  of  getting 
round  this  hill. 

Surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  Boers,  men  and  horses  wearied  out,  out- 
numbered by  at  least  six  to  one,  our  friends  having  failed  to  keep  their 
promises  to  meet  us,  and  my  force  reduced  numerically  by  one-fourth,  I  no 
longer  considered  that  I  was  justified  in  Wonderfully  considerate!  seeing 
sacrificing  any  more  of  the  lives  of  the  men  howr  they  deliberately  risked  the 
under  me.  lives  of  thousands  in  Johannesburg 

As  previously  explained,  our  object  in  ^^en  they  started, 
coming  had  been  to  render  assistance,  without  bloodshed  if  possible,  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Johannesburg.  This  object  would  in  no  way  be  furthered  by  a 
hopeless  attempt  to  cut  our  way  through  overwhelming  numbers,  an  attempt, 
moreover,  w^hich  must  wMthout  any  doubt  have  entailed  heavy  and  useless 
slaughter. 

AVith  Dr.  Jameson's  permission,  I  therefore  sent  word  to  the  Commandant  9.15  a.ux 
that  w^e  would  surrender,  provided  that  he  would  give  a  guarantee  of  safe 
conduct  out  of  the  country  to  every  member  of  the  force. 

To  this  Commandant  Cronj^  replied  by  a  guarantee  of  the  lives  of  all, 
provided  that  we  would  lay  down  our  arms  and  pay  all  ex{)enses. 

In  spite  of  this  guarantee  of  the  lives  of  all,  Commandant  Malan  subse- 
quently repudiated  the  guarantee  in  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  would  not 
answer  for  the  lives  of  the  leaders,  but  this  was  not  until  our  arms  had  been 
given  up  and  the  force  at  the  mercy  of  the  Boers. 

I  attribute  our  failure  to  reach  Johannesburg  in  a  great  measure  to  loss  of 
time  from  the  following  causes  : 

(1)  The  delay  occasioned  by  the  demonstration  in  front  of  Krugersdorp, 
which  had  been  assigned  as  the  place  of 

junction  with  the  Johannesburg  force.  .^\°T  ^  ^V^f.*  nothing  was  said 

''    ,r>.   rn-L.  ■      ^        c     i.\    4.     c  J.     <^f    this  to   Celliers   and    Rowland: 

(2J  The  non-arrival  of  that  force  at  nothing  in  the  letter  of  Colonel  White 
Krugersdorp  or  of  the  guides  to  the  and  Dr.  Ja'>.eson  which  they  wrote 
Krugersdorp- Johannesburg  section  of  the  *^  ^^  *•'"•  Wednesday ;  nothing  in 
road,  as  previously  promised  by  Johannes-    *,!„Ta1Te.'prtk^5  ?7S„S'a^ 

burg.  bef.ire  daybreak  after  the  Krugers- 

(3)  The  delay  consequent  on  moving  to  dorp  fight?    How  is  it  that  if  the 

the   firing    of   the    supposed    Johannesburg  forces  were  to  meet  at  Krugersdorp 

1             ^     i.    1,   (•          J     1              -»T-  J        J  Dr.  Jameson  telegraphed  to  Dr.  Wolflf 

column  just    before    dark    on    A\ednesday  to  meet  him  en  row«e,  so  as  to  decide 

evening.  whether  to  turn  off  20  miles  before 

I  append   (1)   a  sketch-map  of  the  route  reacking    Krugersdorp,    and    march 

from  Pitsani  to   Krugersdorp,  marked  A.  ^SilrtilTr''^  """  ^"^ ''"^'' ^''^^''' 

This  distance  (154  miles)  was  covered  in 

juat  under  70  hours,  the  horses  having  been  ofF-saddled  ten  times.      The 


334  APPENDICES 

169  miles  between  Pitsani  and  Doornkop  occupied  86  hours,  during  17  of 
Avhich  the  men  were  eugaged  with  the  Boers,  and  were  practically  without 
food  or  water,  having  had  their  last  meal  at  8  a.m.  on  the  morning  of  the 
1st  January  at  Van  Oudtshooru's,  17  miles  from  Krugersdorp. 
The  average  weight  carried  by  each  horse  was  16  stone. 

(2)  List  of  officers  engaged  in  the  expedition  and  composition  of  the  force 
marked  B.  Prom  this  it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  a  total  of  494  men  and 
officers  (exclusive  of  staff'). 

(3)  Plans  of  engagements  at  Krugersdorp  and  Doornkop,  and  of  the 
bivouac  on  the  night  of  January  1st. 

I  cannot  close  this  nari-ative  without  testifying  to  the  very  great  gallantry 
and  endurance  of  all  officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  and  troopers  under 
my  command  in  the  field  and  on  the  march  under  most  trying  circumstances. 

Composition  of  Force. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Sir  John  Willoughby,  Royal 

Horse  Guards     Commanding. 

Major  Hon.  Rol.ert  White,  'Royal  Welsh  Fusiliers     Senior  Staff  Officer. 

Major  C.  Hyde  Villiers,  Royal  Horse  Guards      ...     Staff  Officer. 

Captain  Kincaid-Smith,  Royal  Artillery Artillery  Staff  Officer. 

Captain  Kennedy,  B.S.A.C.'s  Service        ...         ...     Quartermaster. 

Captain  E.  Holden,  Derbyshire  Yeomanry  ...     Assistant  Quartermaster. 

Surgeon  Captain  Farmer,  B.S.A.  Co ) 

Surgeon  Captain  Seaton  Hamilton,  late  1st  Life  >  Medical  Officers. 
Guards -       ) 

Lieutenant  Grenfell,  1st  Life  Guards         Remount  Officer. 

Lieutenant  Jesser-Coo}>e,  B.S.A.  Co Transpoit  Officer. 

Captain  Lindsell,  late  Royal  Scots  Fusiliers         ...     In  charge  Scouts. 

Major  J.  B.  Stracey,  Scots  Guards \ 

Major  Heany,  B.S.A.  Co.    ...         •"         f  Officers  temporarily 

Captain  Foley  (     attached  to  Staff. 

Lieutenant  Ilai-ry  R.  Holden,  late  Grenadier  Guards  ) 

Officers  of  Mashonaland  Mounted  Police. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Hon.  H.  F.  White,  Grenadier 

Guards Commanding. 

Inspector  Bodle  (late  6th  Dragoons)  2nd  in  command. 

Inspector  Straker,  commanding  A  Troop. 

Inspector  Dykes,  commanding  B  Troop. 

Ins[)ector  Barry,  commanding  G  Troop. 

Inspector  Drury,  commanding  D  Troop. 

Sub-Inspectors  Scott  and  Cashel,  A  Troop. 

Sub- Inspectors  Tomlinson  and  Chawner,  B  Troop, 

Sub-Inspectors  Cazalet  and  Williams,  C  Troop. 

Sub- Inspectors  Murray  and  Constable,  D  Troop. 

Artillery  Troop— Inspector  Bowden  and  Sub- Inspector  Spain, 

Regimental  Sergeant — Major  Abbott. 

BkCHUAN ALAND   BORDER   POLICE. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Raleigh  Grey,  6th  Dragoons...     Commanding. 

Major  Hon.  Ciiarles  Coventry         2nd  in  command. 

Captain  Gosling,  commanding  G  Troop. 


APPENDIX  H 


335 


Sub-Lieutonants  Hoare  and  Wood,  eommanding  G  Troop. 
Captain  Munroe,  cormnanding  K  Troop. 
Sub-Lieutenant  McQueen,  commanding  K  Troop. 
Medical  Officer  Surgeou  Garraway. 
Veterinary  Surgeon  Lakie. 

M.M.  Police  officers  and  men  

Staff       

Colony  boys  (leading  horses,  etc.)    ... 
Horses   ... 

Mules 

One  12i-pounder,   G   Maxims,   6   Scotch    carts,   1    Cape   cart, 

waggons. 
B.B.  Police  officers  and  men  ... 

Staff       

Drivers  and  leaders 

Horses 

Mules 

Two  7-pounders,  2  Maxims,  2  Scotch  carts,  2  Cape  carts. 
Officers  and  men 

Staff       

Drivers,  leaders,  etc.  ... 

Horses 

Mules     ... 

M.H.  Maxims 

12^-ponnder      

7-pounder 

Scotch  carts      

Cape  carts 


372 

]^3  Pitsani 

''.          '.'.'.        63  ^=*"^P- 

480 

128 

2   grain 

122 

1  Mafeki.ig 

]^Q  column. 

;'.*.     160 

30 

494  Totals. 

14 

75 

640 

158 

8 

1 

2 

Ammunition. 


Camod  by  men  and  natives 

Carried  in  Scotch  carts  and  Cape  carts 


Total 


Rounds. 
50,000 
54,000 

104.000 


rifle. 


On  the  guns 
In  carts 


On  limber 

On  one  Scotch  cart 


On  limbers  ... 
In  Scotch  carts 


Total 


Total 


17,000  Maxim. 
28,000 

45,000 

44  12i- 

80  pounder. 

124 

70  7-pounder. 

172 

Total 


242 


The  rifle  ammunition  used  was  that  supplied  by  the  ]\Laxim  firm  for  their 
guns  and  also  pellet  powder. 

The  powder  used  with  the  12^  pounder  was  that  known  as  'ballistite.' 
Rocket  signals  and  limelights  were  carried,  but  not  used. 


336  APPENDICES 

Equipment  Carried. 

On  the  Person,  On  the  Saddle. 

(a)  Rifle  (10  rounds).  (a)  Nosebag  (5  lb.  grain). 

(b)  Bandolier  (60  rounds).  (b)  Cloak  on  wallet. 

(c)  Haversack  (J  day's  ration)  (c)  Kifle  bucket. 

(d)  Water-bottle  filled.  (d)  Patrol  tin  (with  grocery  ration). 

(e)  Leather  axe-holder   (every    fourth 
man). 

Near-side  wallet,  30  rounds  and  ^  day's  rations. 

Off-side  wallet,  20  rounds,  tin  dubbin,  hold -all,  and  towel. 

Average  weight  carried  by  horse  =  16  stone. 

,,  ,,  „  Scotch  carts  =  1,600  lb. 


APPENDIX   I 

MANIFESTO 

If  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  honour  conferred  upon  me  by  being  elected 
Chairman  of  the  National  Union,  I  am  profoundly  impressed  Avith  the 
responsibilities  attached  to  the  position.  The  issues  to  be  faced  in  this 
country  are  so  momentous  in  character  that  it  has  been  decided  that  prior  to 
the  holding  of  a  public  meeting  a  review  of  the  condition  of  affairs  should 
be  i)laced  m  your  hands,  in  order  that  you  may  consider  matters  quietly  in 
your  homes.  It  has  also  been  decided  that  it  will  be  wise  to  postpone  the 
meeting  which  was  to  have  taken  place  on  the  27th  December  until  the 
6th  day  of  January  next. 

On  that  day  you  will  have  made  up  your  minds  on  the  various  points 
submitted  to  you,  and  we  will  ask  you  for  direction  as  to  our  future  course 
of  action.  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  recount  all  the  steps  which  have  been 
taken  by  the  National  Union,  and  I  shall  therefore  confine  myself  to  a  very 
short  review  of  what  has  been  done. 

The  Three  Planks. 

The  constitution  of  the  National  Union  is  very  simple.  The  three  objects 
which  we  set  before  ourselves  are  :  (1)  The  maintenance  of  the  independence 
of  the  Republic,  (2)  the  securing  of  equal  rights,  and  (3)  the  redress  of 
grievances.  This  brief  but  comprehensive  programme  has  never  been  lost 
sight  of,  and  I  think  we  may  challenge  contradiction  fearlessly  when  we 
assert  that  we  have  constitutionally,  respectfully,  and  steadily  prosecuted 
our  purpose.  Last  year,  you  will  remember,  a  respectful  petition,  praying 
for  the  franchise,  signed  by  13,000  men,  was  received  with  contemptuous 
laughter  and  jeers  in  the  Volksraad.  This  year  the  Union,  apart  from  smaller 
matters,  endeavoured  to  do  three  things. 

The  Raad  Elections. 

First  we  were  told  that  a  Progressive  spirit  was  abroad,  that  twelve  out 
of  twenty-four  members  of  the  First  Volksra,ad  had  to  be  elected,  and  we 
might  reasonably  hope  for  reform  by  the  type  of  broad-minded  men  who 
would  be  elected.  It  was  therefore  resolved  that  we  should  do  everything  in 
our  power  to  assist  in  the  election  of  the  best  men  who  were  put  up  by  the 


APPENDIX  I  337 

constituencies,  and  everything  that  the  law  permitted  us  to  do  in  this  direc- 
tion was  done. 

Disappointed  Hopes. 

The  result  has  been  only  too  disappointing,  as  the  record  of  the  del)ate3 
and  the  division  list  in  the  Volksraad  prove.  We  were,  moreover,  told  that 
public  speeches -in  Johannesburg  prevented  the  Progressive  members  from 
getting  a  majority  of  the  Raad  to  listen  to  our  requests,  that  angiy  passions 
were  inflamed,  and  that  if  we  would  only  hold  our  tongues  reform  would  be 
brought  about.  We  therefore  resolved  in  all  loyalty  to  abstain  from  inflaming 
angry  passions,  although  we  never  admitted  we  had  by  act  or  speech  given 
reason  for  legislators  to  refuse  justice  to  all.  Hence  our  silence  for  a  long 
time. 

*    The  Railavay  Concession  Next. 

We  used  all  our  influence  to  got  the  Volksraad  to  take  over  the  railway 
concession,  but,  alas  !  the  President  declared  with  tears  in  his  voice  that  the 
independence  of  the  country  was  wrapped  up  in  this  question,  and  a  sub- 
missive Raad  swept  the  petitions  from  the  table. 

The  Franchise  Petition. 

Our  great  eff'ort,  however,  was  the  petition  for  the  franchise,  with  the 
moderate  terms  of  which  you  are  all  acquainted.  This  petition  was  signed 
by  more  than  38,000  persons.  What  was  the  result  ?  We  were  called  un- 
faithful for  not  naturalizing  ourselves,  when  naturalization  means  only  that 
we  should  give  up  our  original  citizenship  and  get  nothing  in  return,  and 
become  subject  to  disabilities.  Members  had  the  calm  assurance  to  state, 
without  any  giounds  whatever,  that  the  signatures  were  forgeries  ;  and,  worst 
of  all,  one  member  in  an  inflammatory  speech  challenged  us  openly  to  fight 
for  our  rights,  and  his  sentiment  seemed  to  meet  Avith  considerable  approval. 
This  is  the  disappoint! iig  result  of  our  honest  endeavours  to  bring  about  a 
fusion  between  the  people  of  this  State,  and  the  true  union  and  equality 
which  alone  can  be  the  basis  of  prosperity  and  peace.  You  all  know  that  as 
the  law  now  stands  we  are  virtually  excluded  for  ever  from  getting  the 
franchise,  and  by  a  malignant  ingenuity  our  children  born  here  are  deprived 
of  the  rights  of  citizenship  unless  their  fathers  take  an  oath  of  allegiance, 
which  brings  them  nothing  but  disabilities. 

The  Bitter  Cry  of  the  'Uitlander.' 

We  are  the  vast  majority  in  this  State.  We  own  more  than  half  the  land, 
and,  taken  in  the  aggregate,  we  own  at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  property  in 
this  country  ;  yet  in  all  matters  aff'ecting  our  lives,  our  liberties,  and  our 
properties,  we  have  absolutely  no  voice.  Dealing  now  first  with  the  legisla 
ture,  we  find  taxation  is  imposed  upon  us  without  any  representation  what 
ever  ;  that  taxation  is  wholly  inequitable,  (a)  because  a  much  greater  amount 
is  levied  from  the  people  than  is  reqidred  for  the  needs  of  Government 
{h)  because  it  is  either  class  taxation  pure  and  simple,  or  by  the  selection  of  the 
subjects,  though  nominally  universal,  it  is  made  to  fall  upon  our  shoulders 
and  (c)  because  the  necessaries  of  life  are  unduly  burdened. 

Abuse  of  Public  Expenditure. 

Expenditure  is  not  controlled  by  any  public  official  independent  of  the 
Government.     Vast  sums  are  squandered,  while  the  Secret  Service  Fund  is  a 

'22 


338  APPENDICES 

dark  mystery  to  everybody.  But,  essential  as  the  power  to  control  taxation 
and  expenditure  is  to  a  free  people,  there  are  other  matters  of  the  gravest 
importance  which  are  equally  precious.  The  Legislature  in  this  country  is 
the  supreme  power,  apparently  uncontrolled  by  any  fixed  Constitution.  The 
chance  will  of  a  majority  in  a  Legislature  elected  by  one-third  of  the  people 
is  capable  of  dominating  us  in  every  relation  of  life  ;  and  when  we  remember 
that  those  who  hold  power  belong  to  a  different  race,  speak  a  different 
language,  and  have  different  pursuits  from  ourselves,  that  they  regard  us  with 
suspicion  and  even  hostility,  that,  as  a  rule,  they  are  not  educated  men,  and 
that  their  passions  are  played  upon  by  unscrupulous  adventurers,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  we  are  in  very  grave  danger. 

Tribute  to  the  Modekates. 

I  think  it  is  but  just  to  bear  tribute  to  the  patriotic  endeavours  of  a  small 
band  of  enlightened  men  in  the  Volksraad  who  have  earnestly  condemned  the 
policy  of  the  Government  and  warned  them  of  its  danger.  To  Mr.  Jeppe, 
Mr,  Lucas  Meyer,  the  De  Jagers,  Mr.  Loveday,  and  a  few  others  in  the  First 
Raad,  leaving  out  the  Second  Raad,  we  owe  our  best  thanks,  for  they  have 
fought  our  battle  and  confirmed  the  justice  of  our  cause.  But  when  we  look 
to  the  debates  of  the  last  few  years,  what  do  we  find  ?  All  through  a  spirit 
of  hostility,  all  through  an  endeavour  not  to  meet  the  just  wants  of  the 
people,  not  to  remove  grievances,  not  to  establish  the  claim  to  our  loyalty  by 
just  treatment  and  equal  laws,  but  to  repress  the  publication  of  the  truth, 
however  much  it  might  be  required  in  the  public  interest,  to  prevent  us  from 
holding  public  meetings,  to  interfere  with  the  Courts,  and  to  keep  us  in  awe 
by  force. 

The  Poweks  of  the  Executive. 

There  is  now  threatened  a  danger  even  graver  than  those  which  have 
preceded  it.  The  Government  is  seeking  to  get  through  the  Legislature  an 
Act  which  will  vest  in  the  Executive  the  power  to  decide  whether  men  have 
been  guilty  of  sedition,  and  to  deport  them  and  confiscate  their  goods.  The 
Volksraad  has  by  resolution  affirmed  the  principle,  and  has  instructed  the 
Government  to  bring  up  a  Bill  accordingly  next  session.  To-day  this  power 
rests  justly  with  the  courts  of  law  ;  and  I  can  only  say  that,  if  this  Bill 
becomes  law,  the  power  of  the  Executive  Government  of  this  country  would 
be  as  absolute  as  the  power  of  the  Czar  of  Russia..  We  shall  have  said  good- 
bye finally  to  the  last  principle  of  liberty. 

President  Kruger  Indicted. 

Coming  to  the  Executive  Government,  we  find  that  there  is  no  true 
responsibility  to  the  people,  none  of  the  great  departments  of  State  are 
controlled  by  Ministerial  officers  in  the  proper  sense,  the  President's  will  is 
virtually  supreme,  and  he,  with  his  unique  influence  over  the  legislators  of 
the  House,  State-aided  by  an  able,  if  hostile.  State  Secretary,  has  been  the 
author  of  every  act  directed  against  the  liberties  of  the  people.  It  is  well 
that  this  should  be  recognised.  It  is  well  that  President  Kruger  should  be 
known  for  what  he  is,  and  that  once  for  all  the  false  pedestal  on  which  he  has 
so  long  stood  should  be  destroyed.  I  challenge  contradiction  when  I  state 
that  no  important  Act  has  found  a  place  on  the  Statute-book  during  the  last 
ten  years  without  the  seal  of  President  Kruger's  will  upon  it  ;  nay,  he  is  the 
father  of  every  sucli  Act.  Remember  that  all  legislation  is  initiated  by  the 
Government,  and,  moreover,  President  Kruger  has  expressly  supported  every 
Act  by  which  we  and  our  children  have  been  deprived  by  progressive  steps  of 
the  right  to  acquire  franchise,  by  which  taxation  has  been  imposed  upon  us 


APPENDIX  I  339 

almost  exclusively,  and  by  which  the  right  and  the  liberty  of  the  Press  and 
the  right  of  public  meeting  have  been  attacked. 

The  Judges  an©  the  Liberty  of  the  Subject. 

Now  we  come  to  the  judicial  system.  The  High  Court  of  this  country  has, 
in  the  absence  of  representation,  been  the  sole  guardian  of  our  liberties. 
Although  it  has  on  the  whole  done  its  Avork  ably,  alfairs  are  in  a  very 
unsatisfactory  position.  The  judges  have  been  underpaid,  their  salaries  have 
never  been  secure,  the  most  undignified  treatment  has  been  meted  out  to 
them,  and  the  status  and  the  independence  of  the  Bench  have  on  more  than 
one  occasion  been  attacked.  A  deliberate  attempt  was  made  two  years  ago 
by  President  Kruger  and  the  Government  to  reduce  the  bench  to  a  position 
subordinate  to  the  Executive  Government,  and  only  recently  we  had  in  the 
Witfontein  matter  the  la»t  of  the  cases  in  which  the  Legislature  interfered 
with  vested  rights  of  action.  The  administration  of  justice  by  minor  officials, 
by  native  conniiissioners,  and  by  field-cornets,  has  produced,  and  is  producing, 
the  gravest  unrest  in  the  country  ;  and,  lastly,  gentlemen. 

The  Great  Bulwark  of  Liberty, 

the  right  to  trial  by  jurymen  who  are  our  peers,  is  denied  to  us.  Only  the 
burgher  or  naturalized  burgher  is  entitled  to  be  a  juryman  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  any  one  of  us  is  liable  to  be  tried  upon  the  gravest  charge  possible  by 
jurymen  who  are  in  no  sense  our  peers,  who  belong  to  a  different  race,  who 
regard  us  with  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  of  hostility,  and  whose  passions,  if 
inflamed,  might  prompt  them,  as  weak  human  creatures,  to  inflict  the  gravest 
injustice,  even  to  deprive  men  of  their  lives.  Supposing,  in  the  present  tense 
condition  of  political  feeling,  any  one  of  us  were  tried  before  a  Boer  jury  on 
any  charge  having  a  political  flavour  about  it,  should  we  be  tried  by  our 
peers,  and  should  we  have  a  chance  of  receiving  even-handed  justice  ? 

The  Secret  Service  Fund. 

When  we  come  to  the  Administrition,  we  find  that  there  is  the  grossest 
extravagance,  that  Secret  Service  moneys  are  squandered,  that  votes  are 
exceeded,  that  the  public  credit  if  pledged,  as  it  was  pledged  in  the  case  of 
the  Netherlands  Railway  Company,  and  later  still  in  the  case  of  the  Selati 
Railway,  in  a  manner  which  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  best  interests  of 
the  people. 

Squandering  the  Public  Revenue. 

The  Delagoa  Bay  festivities  are  an  instance  of  a  reckless  disregard  of  a 
Parliamentary  vote;  £20,000  was  voted  for  those  useless  festivities — about 
£60,000  was  really  expended,  and  I  believe  certain  favoured  gentlemen 
hailing  from  Holland  derived  the  principal  benefit.  It  is  said  that  £400,000 
of  our  money  has  been  transferred  for  some  extraordinary  purpose  to  Holland. 
Recently  £17,000  is  said  to  have  been  sent  out  of  the  country  with  Dr.  Leyds 
for  Secret  Service  purposes,  and  the  public  audit  seems  a  farce.  When  the 
Progressive  members  endeavoured  to  get  an  explanation  about  large  sums  of 
money  they  were  silenced  by  a  vote  of  the  majority  prompted  by  President 
Kruger.    The  administration  of  the  public  service  is  in  a  scandalous  condition. 

A  Corrupt  Legislature. 

Bribery  and  corruption  are  rampant.  We  have  had  members  of  the  Raad 
accepting  presents  of  imported  spiders  and  watches  wholesale  from  men  who 

22—2 


840  APPENDICES 

were  applying  for  concessions,  and  we  have  the  singular  fact  that  in  every 
instance  the  recipient  of  the  gift  voted  for  the  concession.  We  have  tlie 
I  resident  openly  stating  that  such  acceptance  of  presents  was  wholly  moral. 
ViTe  have  a  condition  of  affairs  in  which  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the 
Vclksraad  is  looked  upon  as  the  i)eriod  of  the  greatest  danger  to  our  interests, 
£nd  it  is  an  open  secret  that  a  class  of  man  has  sprung  up  who  is  in  constant 
?,ttendance  upon  the  members  of  the  Volksraad,  and  Vliose  special  business 
ri)pears  to  be  the  'influencing'  of  members  one  way  or  the  other.  It  is 
cpenly  stated  that  enormous  sums  of  money  have  been  spent,  some  to  produce- 
I'legitimate  results,  some  to  guard  against  fresh  attacks  upon  vested  rights. 
The  Legislature  passed  an  Act  solemnly  denouncing  corruption  in  the  public 
yervice.  One  man,  not  an  official,  was  punished  under  the  law,  but  nothing, 
has  ever  been  done  since  to  eradicate  the  evil. 

And  a  Tainted  Civil  Service. 
I  think  thousands  of  you  are  satisfied  of  the  venality  of  many  of  our  public' 
cervants.  I  wish  to  guard  against  the  assumption  that  all  public  servants . 
are  corrupt.  Thank  God  there  are  many  who  are  able  and  honourable  men, 
and  it  must  be  gall  and  wormwood  to  these  men  to  find  the  whole  tone  of  the. 
service  destroyed,  and  to  have  themselves  made  liable  to  be  included  under 
one  general  denunciation.  But  there  can  be  no  health  in  an  administration, 
and  the  public  morals  must  be  sapped  also,  when  such  things  as  the  Smit 
case  and  the  recent  Stiemens  case  go  unnoticed  and  unpunished. 

Two  Glaring  Cases. 

I  think  it  right  to  state  openly  what  those  cases  are.  N.  J.  Smit  is  the 
son  of  a  member  of  the  Government.  He  absented  himself  for  months  without 
leave.  He  was  meantime  charged  in  the  newspapers  with  embezzlement.  He 
returned,  was  fined  £25  for  being  absent  without  leave,  and  was  reinstated  in 
office.  He  is  now  the  Mining  Commissioner  of  Klcrksdorp.  He  has  been 
charged  in  at  least  two  newspapers — one  of  them  a  Dutch  newspajier,  Land  en 
Volk,  published  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  Government  Office — with  bein<^ 
en  'unpunished  thief,'  and  yet  the  Government  have  taken  no  notice  of  it, 
nor  has  he  thought  fit  to  bring  an  action  to  clear  himself.  In  the  Stiemens 
case  two  officials  in  the  Mining  Depaitment  admitted  in  the  witness-box  that 
they  had  agreed  to  further  the  ap})lication  of  a  relative  for  the  grant  of  a 
piece  cf  public  land  at  Johannesburg  on  condition  that  they  were  each  to 
receive  one  quarter  of  the  proceeds.  A  third  official,  the  Landdrost  of 
Pretoria,  admitted  that  he  had  received  £300  for  his  'influence'  in  furthering 
the  application  ;  yet  no  notice  had  been  taken  by  the  Government  of  their 
ecandalous  conduct,  and  sad  to  say  judges  who  heard  the  case  did  not  think , 
it  their  duty  to  comment  strongly  upon  the  matter.  I  have  in  my  possessions 
now  a  notarial  deed  whicli  proves  that  the  Railway  Commissioner,  the^ 
Landdrost,  and  the  Commandant  of  Pretoria  are  members  of  a  syndicate, 
whose  avowed  object  is,  or  was,  to  wrest  from  the  companies  their  right  to, 
the  '  bcwaarplaatsen.'  This  shows  Avhat  is  going  on,  and  what  is  the  measure 
of  safety  of  title  to  property.  Those  who  should  guard  our  rights  are  our 
woist  enemies.  In  a  law  introduced  by  the  present  Government,  the  Govern- 
:ment,  instead  of  the  Courts,  are  the  final  judges  in  cases  of  disputed  elections. 
No  Election  Committees  are  allowed.  This  operates  against  candidates 
')pposed  to  the  Government,  because  the  Government  has  virtually  a  vast 
standing  army  of  conmiittee  men,  henchmen,  officials  being  allowed  openly 
to  take  part  in  swaying  elections,  and  the  Government  being  in  a  position, 
by  the  distribution  of  contracts,  appointrrente,  purchase  of  concassions,  the 


APPENDIX  I  341 

expenditure  of  Secret  Service  money  and  otherwise,  to  bring  into  existoiuc 
and  maintain  a  large  number  of  supporters  wlio  act  as  canvassers  always  on 
the  right  side  in  times  of  elections. 

Native  Affairs. 
The  administration  uf  native  affairs  is  a  gross  scandal  and  a  souroe  of 
immense  loss  and  damper  to  the  conmiunity.  Native  Commissioners  have 
been  permitted  to  practise  extortion,  injustice,  and  cruelty  upon  the  native';^ 
under  their  jurisdiction.  The  Government  has  allowed  petty  tribes  to  be 
goaded  into  rebellion.  We  have  had  to  pay  the  costs  of  the  '  wars,'  whihi 
the  Avretched  victims  of  their  policy  have  had  their  tribes  broken  up,  source.: 
of  native  labour  have  been  destroyed,  and  large  numbers  of  prisoners  havt; 
been  kept  in  gaol  for  something  like  eighteen  months  without  trial.  It  waj 
stated  in  the  newspapers  that,  out  of  sixty-three  men  imprisoned,  thirry-ono 
had  died  in  that  ])eriod,  while  the  rest  were  languishing  to  death  for  want  of 
vegetable  food.  iVe  have  had  revelations  of  repulsive  cruelty  on  the  pari;  cf 
field- cornets.  We  all  remember  the  Rachmann  case,  and  tlic  April  case,  iw 
which  the  judges  found  field-cornets  guilty  of  brutal  conduct  to  unfortunate 
natives  ;  but  the  worst  features  about  these  cases  is  that  the  Gover!\ment 
has  set  the  seal  of  its  approval  upon  the  acts  of  these  officials  by  paying  the 
costs  of  the  actions  out  of  public  funds,  and  the  President  of  the  State  a  few 
days  ago  made  the  astounding  statement  in  regard  to  the  April  case,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  judgment  of  the  High  Court,  the  Government  thought 
that  Prinsloo  was  right  in  his  action,  and  therefoi'e  paid  the  costs.  The 
Government  is  enforcing  the  '  ])lakkerswet,'  wJiich  forbids  the  locating  of 
more  than  five  families  on  one  farm.  The  field-cornets  in  various  districts 
have  recently  broken  up  homes  of  large  numbers  of  natives  settled  on 
'  Uitlanders' '  lands,  just  at  the  time  when  they  had  sown  their  crops  to 
provide  the  next  Avintcr's  food.  The  application  of  this  law  is  nost  uneven, 
as  large  numbers  of  natives  are  left  on  the  farms  of  the  Boers.  Quite  recently 
a  well-known  citizen  brought  into  the  country  at  great  expense  some  hundreds 
of  families,  provided  them  with  land,  helped  them  to  start  life,  stipulating 
only  that  he  should  be  able  to  draw  from  amongst  them  labour  at  a  fair  wage 
to  develop  his  properties.  Scarcely  had  they  been  settled  when  the  field- 
cornet  came  dov.n  and  scattered  the  people,  distributing  them  amono  Boer 
farms.  The  sources  of  the  native  labour  suj)ply  have  been  seriously  interfercvl 
v.'ith  at  the  borders  by  Government  measures,  and  difficulties  liave  been  placed 
in  the  way  of  transport  of  natives  by  railway  to  the  mines.  These  thinga 
are  all  a  drain  upon  us  as  a  State,  and  many  of  them  are  a  burnkig  disgrace 
to  us  as  a  people. 

The  Education  Scandal. 

The  great  public  that  subscribes  the  bulk  of  the  revenue  is  virtually 
denied  all  benefit  of  State  aid  in  education.  There  has  been  a  deliberate 
attempt  to  Hollanderize  the  Republic,  and  to  kill  the  English  language. 
Thousands  of  children  are  growing  up  in  this  land  in  ignorance,  unfitted  to 
run  the  race  of  life,  and  there  is  the  possibility  that  a  large  number  of  them 
will  develop  into  criminals.  We  have  had  to  tax  ourselves  privately  to  guard 
against  these  dangers,  and  the  iniquity  of  denying  education  to  the  cliildren 
of  men  who  are  paying  taxes  is  so  manifest  that  I  pass  on  with  mingled  feel- 
ings of  anger  and  disgust. 

Railways. 

This  important  branch  of  the  public  service  is  entire!}'-  in  the  hands  of  a 
corporation  domiciled  in  HoUana.     This  corporation  holds  a  ccnceasion,  cf 


342  APPENDICES 

course  under  which  not  only  was  there  no  adequate  control  over  expenditure 
in  construction,  but  it  is  entitled  to  charge  and  is  charging  us  outrageous 
tariffs.  How  outrageous  these  are  will  be  seen  from  the  admission  made  by- 
Mr.  Middelberg  that  the  short  section  of  10  miles  between  Boksburg  and 
Krugersdorp  is  paying  more  than  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  the  construction 
of  the  whole  line  of  railway  to  Delagoa  Bay.  To  add  these  to  its  general 
revenue,  of  which  10  per  cent,  is  set  aside  as  a  sinking  fund,  and  then  to 
take  for  itself  15  per  cent,  of  the  balance,  the  Com[)any  reports  annually  to 
the  Kaad  from  Amsterdam  in  a  language  which  is  })i'actically  foreign  to  it, 
and  makes  up  its  accounts  in  guelders,  a  coinage  which  our  legislators,  I 
venture  to  say,  know  nothing  of ;  and  this  is  independence.  We  are  liable 
as  guarantors  for  the  whole  of  the  debt.  Lines  have  been  built  entirely  on 
our  credit,  and  yet  we  have  no  say  and  no  control  over  these  imjiortant  public 
works  beyond  the  show  of  control  which  is  supposed  to  be  exercised  by  the 
present  Railway  Commissioner.  The  Company,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Executive  Government,  is  in  a  position  to  control  our  destinies  to  an  enormous 
extent,  to  influence  our  relations  internally  and  extei'nally,  to  bring  about 
such  friction  with  the  neighbouring  States  as  to  set  the  whole  ot  South  Africa 
in  tumult.  Petitions  have  been  presented  to  the  Raad,  but  the  President  has 
constantly  brushed  these  aside  Avith  the  well-worn  argument  that  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  State  is  involved  in  the  matter.  It  is  involved  in  the  matter, 
as  all  who  remember  the  recent  Drifts  question  will  admit.  I  have  been  told 
that  it  is  dangerous  for  the  country  to  take  over  the  railway,  because  it  would 
afford  such  an  immense  field  for  corruption.  Surely  this  is  the  strongest  con- 
demnation of  the  Government  by  its  friends,  for  if  it  is  not  fit  to  run  a  rail- 
way, how  can  it  be  fit  to  manage  a  whole  State  ?  The  powers  controlling  this 
railway  are  flooding  the  public  service  with  Hollanders  to  the  exclusion  of  our 
own  people,  and  I  may  here  say  that  in  the  most  important  departments  of 
the  State  we  are  being  controlled  by  the  gentlemen  from  the  Low  Country. 
While  the  innocent  Boer  hugs  to  himself  the  delusion  that  he  is  preserving 
his  independence,  they  control  us  politically  through  Dr.  Leyds.  financially 
through  the  Netherlands  Railway,  educationally  through  Dr.  Mansvelt,  and 
in  the  Department  of  Justice  through  Dr.  Coster. 

Custom  and  Trade, 

The  policy  of  the  Government  in  regard  to  taxation  may  be  practically 
described  as  protection  without  production.  The  most  monstrous  hardships 
result  to  consumers,  and  merchants  can  scarcely  say  from  day  to  day  where 
they  are.  Twice  now  has  the  Government  entered  into  competition  with 
traders  who  have  paid  their  licenses  and  rents  and  who  keep  staffs.  Recently 
grain  became  scarce.  The  Government  were  petitioned  to  suspend  the  duties, 
which  are  cruelly  high,  in  order  to  assist  the  mining  industry  to  feed  its 
labourers.  The  Government  refused  this  request  on  the  plea  that  it  was  not 
in  a  position  to  suspend  duties  without  the  permission  of  the  Volksraad,  and 
yet  within  a  few  days  we  find  that  the  Government  has  granted  a  concession 
to  one  of  its  friends  to  import  grain  free  of  duty  and  to  sell  it  in  competition 
with  the  merchants  who  have  had  to  pay  duties.  I  do  not  attempt  to  deal 
with  this  important  question  adequately,  but  give  this  example  to  show  how 
the  Government  regards  the  rights  of  traders. 

Monopolies. 
It  has  been  the  steady  policy  of  the  Government  to  grant  concessions.    No 
sooner  does  any  commodity  become  absolutely  essential  to  the  community 
than  some  harpy  endeavours  to  get  a  concession  for  its  supply.      There  is 


APPENDIX  I  343 

scarcely  a  commodity  or  a  right  which  has  not  been  made  the  subject  of  an 
application  for  the  grant  of  a  concession.  We  all  remember  the  bread  and 
jam  concession,  the  water  concession,  the  electric  lighting  concession,  and 
many  others,  but  I  need  only  point  to  the  dynamite  concession  to  show  how 
these  monopolies  tend  to  paralyze  our  industries.  There  may  be  some  of  you 
who  have  not  yet  heard,  and  some  who  have  forgotten,  the  facts  connected 
witli  this  outrage  upon  public  rights. 

Story  of  the  Dynamite  Concession. 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  Lippert  got  a  concession  for  the  sole  right  to  manu- 
iacture  and  sell  dynamite  and  all  other  explosives.  He  was  to  manufacture 
the  dynamite  in  this  country.  For  years  he  imported  dynamite  imder  the 
name  of  Guhr  Impregne  duty  free.  He  never  manufactured  dynamite  in  the 
country,  and  upon  public  exposure  the  Government  was  compelled  to  cancel 
the  concession,  the  President  himself  denouncing  the  action  of  the  conces- 
sionnaire  as  fraudulent.  For  a  time  wc  breathed  freely,  thinking  we  were 
rid  of  this  incubus,  but  within  a  few  months  the  Government  granted 
virtually  to  the  same  people  another  concession,  under  which  they  are  now 
taking  from  the  pockets  of  the  public  £600,000  per  annum,  and  this  is  a 
charge  which  will  go  on  growing  should  the  mining  industry  survive  the 
persistent  attempts  to  strangle  it.  How  a  body  charged  with  the  public 
interests  could  be  parties  to  this  scandalous  fleecing  of  the  public  passes  com- 
prehension. Then,  the  curious  feature  about  the  matter  is  that  the  Govern- 
ment gets  some  petty  fraction  of  this  vast  sum,  and  the  concessionnaires 
have  on  this  plea  obtained  enormous  advances  of  public  moneys  from  the 
Government,  without  security,  to  carry  on  their  trade.  Shortly,  the  conces- 
sionnaires are  entitled  to  charge  90s.  a  case  for  dynamite,  while  it  could  be 
bought  if  there  were  no  concession  for  about  30s.  a  case.  It  may  be  stated 
incidentally  that  Mr.  Wolmarans,  a  member  of  the  Government,  has  been 
for  years  challenged  to  deny  that  he  is  enjoying  a  royalty  of  2s.  on  every  case 
of  dynamite  sold,  and  that  he  has  up  to  the  present  moment  neglected  to 
take  up  the  challenge.  Proper  nmnicipal  government  is  denied  to  us,  and 
we  all  know  how  much  this  means  in  regard  to  health,  comfort,  and  the 
value  of  property.  The  Statute  Books  are  disfigured  with  enactments  im- 
posing religious  disabilities  ;  and  the  English  language — the  language  spoken 
by  the  great  bulk  of  the  people — is  denied  all  official  recognition.  The 
natural  result  of  the  existing  condition  of  things  is  that  the  true  owners  of 
the  mines  are  those  'vlio  have  invested  no  capital  in  them — the  Government, 
the  railway  concessirnnaires,  the  dynamite  concessionnaires,  and  others. 
The  country  is  rich,  and  under  proper  government  could  be  developed  mar- 
vellously, but  it  cannot  stand  the  drain  of  the  present  exactions.  We  have 
lived  largely  upon  foreign  cajutal,  and  the  total  amount  of  the  dividends 
available  for  shareholders  in  companies  is  ridiculously  small  as  compared 
with  the  aggregate  amount  of  capital  invested  in  mining  ventures.  Some 
day  the  inevitable  result  upon  our  credit  and  upon  our  trade  will  be  forced 
upon  us. 

Hatred  of  the  Saxon. 

There  is  no  disguising  the  fact  that  the  original  policy  of  the  Government 
is  based  upon  intense  hostility  to  the  English-speaking  population,  and  that 
even  against  the  enfranchised  burgher  of  this  State  there  is  the  determina- 
tion to  retain  all  power  in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  enjoying  the  sweets  of 
office  now,  and  naturally  the  grateful  crowd  of  relations  and  friends  and 
henchmen  ardently  support  the  existing  regime  ;  but  there  are  unmistakable 
signs,  and  the  President  fears  that  the  policy  which  he  has  hitherto  adopted 


344  APPENDICES 

will  not  be  sufficient  to  keep  in  check  the  growing  population.  It  seems  the 
set  purpose  of  Government  to  repress  the  growth  of  the  industry,  to  tax  ic 
at  eveiy  turn,  to  prevent  the  working  classes  from  settling  here  and  making 
their  homes  and  surrounding  themselves  with  their  families,  and  there  is  no 
mistaking  the  signilicance  of  the  action  of  the  President  when  he  opposed  tlie 
throwing  open  of  the  town  lands  of  Pretoria  on  the  ground  that  '  he  might 
have  a  second  Johannesburg  there.'  nor  that  of  his  speech  upon  the  motion 
for  the  employment  of  diamond  drills  to  prospect  Government  lands,  which 
he  opposed  hotly  on  the  ground  that  '  there  is  too  much  gold  here  already. ' 

The  Policy  of  Force. 

We  now  have  openly  the  policy  of  force  revealed  to  us.  £250,000  is  to  be 
spent  upon  the  completing  a  fort  at  Pretoria,  £100,000  is  to  be  spent  upon 
a  fort  to  terrorize  the  inhabitants  of  Johannesburg,  large  orders  are  sent  to 
Krupp's  for  big  guns,  Maxims  have  been  ordered,  and  we  are  even  told  that 
German  officers  are  coming  out  to  drdl  the  burghers.  Are  these  things 
necessary,  or  are  they  calculated  to  irritate  the  feeling  to  breaking  point  ? 
What  necessity  is  there  for  forts  in  peaceful  inland  towns  ?  Why  should  the 
Government  endeavour  to  keep  us  in  subjection  to  unjust  laws  by  the  power 
of  the  sword  instead  of  making  themselves  live  in  the  heart  of  the  people  by 
abroad  policy  of  justice?  What  can  be  said  of  a  polic}'' which  deliberately 
divides  the  two  great  sections  of  the  people  from  each  other  instead  of  uniting 
them  under  equal  laws,  or  the  policy  wliich  keeps  us  in  eternal  tiirmoil  with 
the  neighbouring  States  ?  What  shall  be  said  of  the  statecraft,  every  act  of 
whicli  sows  torments,  discontent,  or  race  liatred,  and  reveals  a  conception  of 
republicanism  under  which  tlie  only  privilege  of  the  majority  of  the  people 
is  to  provide  the  revenue,  and  to  bear  insult,  while  only  those  are  considered 
Republicans  who  speak  a  certain  language,  and  in  greater  or  less  degree  share 
the  prejudices  of  the  ruling  classes  ? 

A  Stirring  Peroration.    • 

I  think  this  policy  can  never  succeed,  unless  men  are  absolutely  bereft  of 
every  quality  which  made  their  forefathers  free  men  ;  unless  we  have  fallen 
so  low  that  we  are  prepared  to  forget  honour,  self-respect,  and  our  duty  to 
our  children.  Once  more,  I  wish  to  state  again  in  unmistakable  language 
what  has  been  so  frequently  stated  in  perfect  sincerity  before,  that  we  desire 
an  independent  republic  which  shall  be  a  true  republic,  in  which  every  man 
who  is  prepared  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  State  shall  have  equal 
rights,  in  which  our  children  shall  be  brought  u])  side  by  side  as  united 
members  of  a  strong  commonwealth  ;  that  we  are  animated  by  no  race  hatred, 
that  we  desire  to  deprive  no  man,  be  his  nationality  what  it  may,  of  any 
right. 

The  Charter  of  the  Uniox. 

We  have  now  only  two  questions  to  consider:  («)  What  do  we  want? 
(b)  How  shall  we  get  it  ?  I  have  stated  plainly  what  our  grievances  are,  and 
I  shall  answer  with  equal  directness  the  question,  '  What  do  we  Avant  ?'  We 
want :  (1)  the  establishment  of  this  Republic  as  a  true  Republic  ;  (2)  a 
Grondwet  or  Constitution  which  shall  be  framed  by  competent  persons 
selected  by  representatives  of  the  whole  people  and  framed  on  lines  laid  down 
by  them — a  Constitution  which  shall  be  safeguarded  against  hasty  alteration  ; 
(3)  an  equitable  franchise  law,  and  fair  representation  ;  (4)  equality  of  the 
Dutch  and  English  languages  ;  (5)  responsibility  of  the  Legislature  to  the 
heads  of  the  great  departments  ;  (6)  removal  of  religious  disal)ilitie8  ;  (7)  ia- 


APPENDIX  K  345 

dependence  of  the  courts  of  justice,  with  adequate  and  secured  remuneration 

of  the  judges  ;  (8)  liberal  and  comprehensive  education  ;  (9)  efficient  civil 
service,  with  adequate  provision  for  pay  and  j)ension  ;  (10)  free  trade  in 
South  Alrica7i  ]n-oducts.  Tliat  is  Avhat  we  want.  There  now  remains  the 
question  whicli  is  to  be  put  before  you  at  the  meeting  of  January  6,  viz., 
How  shall  we  get  it  ?  To  this  question  I  shall  expect  from  you  an  answer  in 
plain  terms  according  to  your  deliberate  judgment. 

CiiAiiLES  Leonard, 
Chairmaii  of  the  Transvaal  Naiional  Union. 


APPENDIX  K 

THE  CASE  OF  THE  CHIEFTAINESS  TOEREMETSJANI 

On  the  reports  which  have  appeared,  the  case  or  cases  of  Toeremetsjani 
V.  P.  A.  Cronje,  Jesaja  v.  P.  A.  Cronje  and  D.  J.  Schoeman,  Segole  v. 
P.  A.  Cronje  and  J.  A.  Erasmus,  have  attracted,  as  well  they  might,  a  good 
deal  of  attention.  The  following  resume  and  commentary  were  compiled  by 
a  legal  gentleman  who  was  present  during  the  trial,  but  not  professionally- 
employed  in  it. 

The  facts  revealed  in  the  evidence  (writes  our  correspondent)  speak  pretty 
well  for  themselves,  but  they  v/ere  brought  out  into  lurid  prominence  in  the 
cross-examinaiion  of  Commandant  Cronje  by  Mr.  Justice  Jorissen,  In  order 
to  make  the  case  quite  clear,  it  is  as  well  to  state,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  are  not  intimately  acquainted  with  things  in  the  Transvaal,  that  this 
Mr.  Cronje,  Avho  is  now  the  Superintendent-General  of  Natives,  is  the  same 
Cronje  concerning  whose  action  in  regard  to  Jameson's  surrender  there  was  so 
much  discussion.  Alter  the  Jameson  Raid,  President  Kruger,  pursuing  his 
policy  of  packing  the  Execixtive  with  his  own  friends,  decided  to  put  Cronj6 
upon  the  Executive,  for  whicli  purpose  he  induced  General  Jonbert  to  resign 
his  position  as  Superintendent  General  of  Natives.  The  President's  intention 
becoming  known  to  Raad  members,  the  strongest  possible  objection  was 
expressed  to  this  course,  as  being  wholly  unconstitutional  and  in  direct 
conflict  with  the  GrondAvet,  the  President  in  tlie  first  place  having  no  right 
to  add  to  the  number  of  Executive  members,  and  no  authority  for  appointing 
any  person  to  fill  a  vacancy  if  there  were  one.  Notice  of  motion  was  promptly 
given  in  the  Raad  to  instruct  the  Executive  not  to  take  the  proposed  course, 
as  the  Raad  lelt  that  the  privilege  and  power  of  appointing  members  on  the 
Executive  rested  with  them  alone.  Tv.-enty-four  hours'  notice  was  requisite 
to  biing  a  matter  up  for  discussion  before  the  Raad.  President  Kruger, 
hearing  that  notice  had  been  given,  promptly  called  a  meeting  of  the 
Executive  and  appointed  Mr.  Cronj^  in  dcliance  of  the  notice  of  motion,  so 
that  when  the  motion  came  on  for  discussion  on  the  following  day  he  replied 
to  the  Raad's  instruction  that  it  was  too  late  to  discuss  the  matter,  the 
appointment  having  been  made.  Mr.  Cronj^,  therefore,  appears  on  the  scene 
on  this  occasion  without  much  to  prejudice  the  unbiassed  reader  in  his  favour. 
The  circumstances  of  the  surrender  of  the  Potchefstroom  garrison,  which  was 
secured  by  treacherously  suppressing  tlie  news  of  the  armistice  between  the 
two  forces  (a  treachery  for  which  public  reparation  was  afterwards  exacted  by 
Sir  Evelyn  Wood),  the  treatment  of  certain  prisoners  of  war  (compelled  to 
work  for  the  Boers,  exposed  to  the  fire  and  being  shot  down  by  their  own 
friends  in  the  garrison),  the  summary  execution  of  other  prisoners,  the 
refusal  to  allow  certain  of  the  women  to  leave  the  British  g.irrisou,  resulting 


346  APPENDICES 

in  the  death  of  at  least  one,  are  matters  which,  although  sixteen  years  old, 
are  quite  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  people  in  the  Transvaal.  The  condition 
of  Dr.  Jameson's  surrender  revived  the  feeling  that  Mr.  Cronje  has  need  to 
do  something  remarkable  in  another  direction  in  order  to  encourage  that 
confidence  in  him  as  an  impartial  and  fair-minded  man  which  his  past 
career  unfortunately  does  not  warrant.  Commandant  Trichard,  mentioned 
in  this  connection  as  a  witness,  was  one  of  the  commandants  who  refused  to 
confirm  the  terms  accorded  b)'-  Cronje  to  Jameson.  Mr.  Abel  Erasmus  is  a 
gentleman  so  notorious  that  it  would  be  quite  unnecessary  to  further  describe 
him.  He  is  the  one  whom  Lord  Wolseley  described  as  a  fiend  in  human 
form,  and  threatened  to  'hang  as  high  as  Haman.'  Abel  Erasmus  is  the 
man  who  had  desolated  the  Leydenburg  distiict ;  the  hero  of  the  cave  affair 
in  which  men,  women,  and  children  were  closed  up  in  a  cave  and  burnt  to 
death  or  suffocated  ;  a  man  who  is  the  living  terror  of  a  whole  countiyside, 
the  mere  mention  of  whose  name  is  sufficient  to  coav  any  native.  Mr.  Schoe- 
man  is  the  understudy  of  Abel  Erasmus,  and  is  the  hero  of  the  satchel  case, 
in  which  an  unfortunate  native  was  flogged  Avell-nigh  to  death  and  tortured 
in  order  to  wring  evidence  from  him,  who,  it  was  afterwards  discovered,  knew 
absolutely  nothing  about  the  affair.  The  Queen,  or  Chieftainess,  Toeremets- 
jani  is  the  present  head  of  the  Secocoeni  tiibe,  an(i  the  head  wife  of  the  late 
chief  Secocoeni.  This  tribe,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  one  which 
successfully  resisted  the  Boers  under  President  Burger  and  Commandant 
Paul  Kruger — a  successful  resistance  which  was  one  of  the  troubles  leading 
directly  to  the  abortive  annexation  of  the  Transvaal.  The  Secocoeni  tribe 
were  afterwards  conquered  by  British  troops,  and  handed  over  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  Boer  Government  upon  the  restoration  of  its  independence. 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  these  facts  in  mind  in  order  to  realize  the  hideous 
significance  of  the  unvarnished  tale. 

Now  to  the  trial. 

Mr.  Advocate  Wessels,  avIio  acted  for  the  natives,  gauging  pretty 
accurately  what  the  defence  would  be,  called  two  witnesses  to  prove  the 
primd  facie  case.  Jesaja,  one  of  the  indunas  flogged,  whose  case  was  first  on 
the  roll,  proved  that  he  was  flogged  by  order  of  Commandant  Cronje  without 
any  form  of  trial,  and  without  any  charge  or  indictment  being  made  against 
him,  and  that  he  received  twenty-six  lashes,  the  extra  one  being  given 
because  he  declined  to  say  '  Thank  you  '  for  the  twenty-five.  Commandant 
Trichard  next  gave  evidence,  and  from  him  Mr.  Wp:ssels  elicited  that  Cronje 
had  gone  through  no  form  of  trial,  but  handed  over  Jesaja  and  the  other 
twelve  indunas  to  be  flogged  by  Erasmus  and  Schoeman. 

Advocate :  Do  you  positively  swear  that  Commandant  Cronj^  specified  the 
sentence  of  twenty-five  lashes  each  ? 

"Witness :  Yes, 

Which  answer  was  quite  in  accordance  with  the  pleas  of  Erasmus  and 
Schoeman,  who  stated  specifically  that  they  administered  the  lashes  in  accord- 
ance with  the  ordei-s  and  sentence  given  by  Commandant  Cronje.  The  Court 
h3ld  that  a  sufficient  primd  facie  case  had  been  made  out  by  the  plaintiff, 
and  that  the  onus  now  lay  on  the  defendants  to  prove  their  case.  Tlie 
witnesses  called  were  Commandant  Cronje  and  Mr.  Stiemens,  secretary  to  the 
former.  Mr.  Stiemens  in  his  evidence  fully  corroborated  Trichard's  evidence 
as  to  the  passing  of  the  sentence  by  Cronje  upon  the  indunas,  and  the  absence 
of  any  form  of  trial  ;  and  nothing  more  need  be  said  about  this  witness. 
With  ^Ir.  Cronje's  evidence,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  deal  at  length. 
Mr.  Cronje  admitted  under  cross-examination  that  he  had  not  observed  any 
particular  form  of  trial,  although,  as  was  pointed  out,  the  law  dealing  with 
native  trials  stated  specifically  '  that  the  rules  which  govern  procedure  in 


APPENDIX  K  347 

civilized  courts  shall  be  followed  as  closely  as  possible.'  He  stated  that  as 
regards  the  Chieftaiuess,  he  called  her  up  and  read  over  to  her  '  point  by 
point  the  indictment  under  which  she  was  charged,'  which  indictment, 
however,  as  he  admitted,  consisted  merely  of  a  letter  of  complaint  written  by 
Field-Cornet  Schoeman  to  him  as  Superintendent-General  of  Natives.  He 
claimed  that  no  form  of  trial  was  necessary,  inasmuch  as  he  acted  under  the 
authority  of  the  President,  who  has  supreme  })ower  over  natives,  and  was  not 
obliged  to  observe  any  particular  form  of  trial,  '  Point  by  point  I  read  the 
charge,'  to  use  his  own  words,  'against  the  woman,  and  point  by  point  I 
could  see  by  her  demeanour  that  she  was  guilty.'  As  regards  the  thirteen 
indunas,  Mr.  Cronje  admitted  that  he  did  not  know  whether  these  were 
indunas.  He  considered  them  guilty,  not  because  they  had  done  anything, 
but  because  in  their  position  as  advisers  of  the  Chieftainess  they  ought  to 
have  advised  her  better  than  they  appeared  to  have  done.  Instructions  had 
therefore  been  given  to  arrest  these  indunas,  and  they  had  caught  as  many  as 
they  could.  There  was  no  evidence  to  show  tliat  they  were  indunas,  or  that 
they  were  ever  in  a  position  to  advise  or  had  advised  the  Chieftainess  ;  in 
fact,  it  was  admitted  that  they  were  a  lot  of  thirteen  caught  out  of  a  tribe  as 
one  might  catch  so  many  slieep  out  of  a  flock.  Mr.  Cronj^  denied  that  he 
had  sentenced  these  men,  and  repeatedly  stated  that  he  had  handed  them 
over  to  Erasmus  and  Schoeman,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law. 

Mr.  Wessels  cross-examined  the  witness  upon  this  point  as  follows  : 

Advocate :  I  believe  Commandant  Trichard  accompanied  you  on  this  com- 
mission ? 

Witness  :  Yes. 

Advocate  :  He  was  present  throughout  the  whole  proceeding  ? 

Witness  :  Yes. 

Advocate  :  He  had  every  opportunity  of  knowing  what  took  place  and 
what  was  said  ? 

Witness  :  Yes. 

Advocate  :  You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  Mr.  Trichard  states  that  you 
actually. passed  sentence  upon  the  thirteen  indunas  in  such  Avords  as,  '  I  hand 
you  over  to  the  Native  Commissioner  and  Field-cornet  to  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  law.  And  you  instigators  will  get  twenty-five  lashes  each  between  the 
shoulders.'  Do  you  positively  deny  that  you  said  anything  about  twenty-five 
lashes  ? 

Witness  :  Yes,  I  deny  it. 

Advocate :  Do  you  deny  that  you  gave  any  indication  or  opinion  as  to  what 
ought  to  be  done  with  these  men  ? 

Witness  :  Yes. 

Advocate  :  Well,  Mr.  Cronje,  I  want  to  know  which  of  you  two  the  Court 
is  to  believe,  you  or  Commandant  Trichard  ? 

Witness  :  Commandant  Trichard  has  made  a  mistake. 

Advocate  :  No,  no,  no,  Mr.  Cronje,  that  won't  do  ;  there  are  no  mistakes 
in  this  business.  I  Avant  you  to  tell  the  Court  which  of  you  two  men  under 
oath  is  lying  and  which  is  telling  the  truth. 

Witness  :  Commandant  Trichard  is  lying. 

(At  this  point  there  was  some  commotion  in  Court  caused  by  Commandant 
Trichard  jumping  up  and  making  use  of  some  expressions  towards  the  witness. 
The  matter  ended  in  a  rather  fierce  altercation  after  the  Court  adjourned.)  It 
is  only  necessary  to  add  that  Mr.  Stiemens,  who  followed  Cronje,  fully  corro- 
borated Trichard's  evidence.  There  were  many  other  interesting  points 
brought  out  by  Mr.  Wessels  in  his  cross-examination,  but  it  is  unnecessary 
to  further  detail  this  part  of  the  proceedings,  as  the  same  ground  was  covered 
by  Mr.  Justice  Jorissen,  who  took  the  witness  in  hand,  and  whose  cross- 


348  APPENDICES 

examination  brought  out  the  salient  features  of  the  ca?e  with  extreme  vivid- 
ness and  dramatic  effect.  The  Judge  first  dealt  with  that  portion  of  the 
evidence  relating  to  the  so-called  trial  of  the  Chieftainess. 

Judge  :  Mr.  Cronje,  in  your  evidence  just  now  you  said  that  you  read  over 
to  this  woman  the  charge  that  was  laid  against  her.  'Point  by  point'  you 
say  you  read  it  to  her,  and  '  point  by  point'  you  could  '  see  by  her  demeanour 
that  she  was  guilty. '     Is  that  so  ? 

Witness :  Yes. 

Judge  :  Very  well,  Mr.  Cronje,  I  will  take  the  indictment,  'point  by  point,' 
as  you  did.  Point  the  first,  Mr.  Cronje.  (The  Judge  here  read  the  first  of 
the  seven  clauses  in  Schoeman's  letter  which  formed  the  indictment.)  Now 
kindly  explain  to  me  what  there  was  in  the  woman's  demeanour  which 
conveyed  to  you  the  idea  that  she  was  guilty  on  this  point. 

The  witness  became  considerably  embarrassed  and  did  not  answer. 

Judge :  No  answer,  Mr,  Cronje  ?  Well,  we  will  take  point  No.  2.  (The 
Judge  dealt  with  all  the  seven  clauses  in  a  similar  manner,  the  witness 
failing  to  make  any  answer  throughout.  After  the  last  point  had  been  dealt 
with  and  remained  ujianswcred,  the  Judge  addressed  the  witness  again  amid 
a  most  impressive  silence  in  Court.) 

Judge  :  Mr.  Cronje,  '  point  by  point'  I  have  read  to  you  the  indictment  as 
you  read  it  to  the  woman  ;  '  point  by  point '  I  have  asked  you  to  give  rao 
certain  information  ;  'point  by  point'  you  have  failed  to  make  any  answer. 
Well,  Mr.  Cronje,  I  can  only  tell  you  this,  'point  by  point'  I  shall  set  that 
down  in  my  notes.  (After  an  interval,  during  A\'hich  the  Judge  filled  in  his 
notes,  the  examination  was  resumed.) 

Judge  :  Now,  Mr.  Cronje,  as  I  understand  it,  it  was  in  consequence  of 
Field-Cornet  Schoeman's  complaint  to  you  as  Superintendent-Geneial  of 
Natives  that  you  were  sent  by  the  Government  to  investigate  the  matter  ? 

Witness :  Yes. 

Judge  :  Yen  called  the  woman  up  before  you  and  read  to  her  the  charges  ? 

Witness :  Yes. 

Judge  :  You  brought  no  evide^ice  against  her  I 

Witness :  No. 

Judge :  You  did  not  call  upon  Schoeman  to  produce  any  evidence  against 
her? 

Witness :  No. 

Judge  :  His  letter  of  complaint  to  you  seemed  sufficient  ? 

Witness  :  Yes. 

Judge  :  You  did  not  give  her  any  opportunity  to  bring  evidence  ? 

Witness  :  It  v.-as  not  necessary. 

Judge :  Oh  dear  no  ;  I  quite  understand  that  you  could  *  tell  from  her 
demeanour  that  she  was  guilty.'  But  as  a  matter  of  form  you  did  not  hear 
any  evidence  on  her  behalf '{ 

Witness  :  No. 

Judge  :  You  just  sentenced  her  out  of  hand  ? 

Witness  :  I  sentenced  her  to  pay  a  fine. 

Judge  :  And  then  as  regards  tlie  tliirteen  indunas,  if  they  were  iudunas,  as 
you  deny  sentencing  them  we  need  not  refer  further  to  that  point,  but  I  put 
this  to  you — there  was  no  evidence  brought  against  them  'i 

Witness :  No. 

Judge :  There  was  nothing  to  show  that  tliese  men  had  ever  advised  the 
woman  or  wei'e  in  a  position  to  advise  her;  in  fact,  as  far  as  the  evidence 
goes,  there  was  nothing  to  show  that  they  even  belonged  to  the  tribe,  but  in 
your  opinion  they  ought  to  have  advised  her  uitTerently,  and  you  therefore 
sentenced  them  to  twenty  five  lashes  each  ? 


APPENDIX  K  849 

"Witness :  I  did  not  sentence  them,  but  handed  them  over  to  the  proper 
authorities  to  be  dealt  Avith  according  to  law. 

Judge  :  Oh  no,  Mr.  Cronje,  that  is  not  how  the  case  appears  to  me.  You 
came  up  to  these  people  in  the  capacity  of  Judge,  to  do  justice  as  between 
man  and  man  according  to  your  lights,  to  follow  the  procedure  that  is 
observed  in  civilized  courts,  to  repiesent  the  strength,  the  rights,  and  the 
responsibilities  of  this  Republic,  and  if  we  are  to  accept  your  evidence  as  true, 
you  did  not  try  tlie  men  whom  you  were  to  have  tried.  You  heard  evidence 
neither  for  nor  against  them,  but  you  handed  them  over  to — to  whom, 
Mr.  Cronje  ?  Not  to  the  proper  authorities,  but  to  Erasmus  and  Schoeman, 
tlie  other  parties  in  the  case  which  you  were  sent  up  to  try.  It  seems  to  me, 
Mr.  Cronje,  that  this  is  a  case  without  parallel. 

There  was  no  answer  from  the  witness. 

Judge :  One  point  more,  Mr.  Cronje,  and  I  have  finished.  When  you 
handed  over  these  men  to  be  dealt  with,  did  you  notify  them  that  they  had 
the  light  of  appeal  from  any  sentence  that  might  be  imposed  upon  them  ? 

Witness  :  Yes,  I  did. 

Judge  :  Right !  Hovv,  Mr.  Cronje,  did  you  notify  Erasmus  and  Schoeman 
that  they  should  stay  execution  of  the  sentence  pending  the  hearing  of  any 
appeal  ? 

After  considerable  pause  the  witness  was  understood  to  say  'No,* 

Judge  :  You  did  not  tell  these  officials  to  stay  execution  ? 

Witness  :  No. 

Judge  :  Then  you  merely  gave  these  natives  the  right  to  appeal  against  the 
sentence  of  lashes  after  they  should  have  received  the  lashes  ? 

There  was  no  answer  from  the  witness. 

Judge  :  That  will  do,  Mr,  Cronje.  I  do  not  think  that  these  people  have 
much  reason  to  thank  you  for  the  leave  to  appeal. 

Cronje  was  followed  in  the  witness-box  by  Stiemens,  whose  evidence  is 
already  referred  to,  and  the  Court  then  adjourned. 

The  next  morning,  shortly  before  the  opening  of  the  Court,  the  State 
Attorney  came  down  on  behalf  of  the  Government  and  airanged  with 
Plaintiffs'  Counsel  to  adjourn  for  the  day  to  enable  parties  to  try  and  settle 
the  three  cases  out  of  Court,  The  Court  thereupon  adjourned  at  the  request 
of  parties,  and  during  the  day  the  three  cases  were  settled  on  the  following 
basis  :  The  Government  refunds  Toeremetsjani  the  £147  10s.  with  interest  at 
6  per  cent,  from  the  date  of  payment  by  her  to  Erasmus,  and  pays  her  costs, 
to  be  taxed  as  between  attorney  and  client. 

The  Defendants  Cronje,  Erasmus,  and  Schoem.an  pay  each  of  the  thirteen 
indunas  who  were  flogged  £25  as  compensation,  and  pay  the  costs  of  Jesaja 
and  Segole,  to  be  taxed  as  between  attorney  and  client, 

POSTSCKIPT. 

One  last  touch  of  irony  is  needed  to  complete  the  story  of  the  suits  brought 
by  the  Chieitainess  Toeremetsjani  and  her  indunas  against  Messrs.  Erasmus, 
Schoeman,  and  the  rest.  It  seems  that  these  same  gentlemen  have  actually 
been  appointed  by  the  Government  to  'investigate  matters'  in  the  district 
where  these  Kafllirs  live.  Poor  Toeremetsjani  and  the  unfortunate  indunas, 
as  a  contemporary  reniaiks,  may  be  expected  to  give  a  grovelling  welcome. 
No  more  High  Court  for  them. 

The  natives,  by  the  way,  interviewed  since  their  return  to  the  kraals,  state 
that  they  have  not  yet  received  the  settlement  ai-ranged. 

In  connection  with  the  al»ove  sample  of  justice  to  the  natives  it  is  as 
well  to  recall  another  incident  which  has  lately  taken  place.     Some  natives 


350  APPENDICES 

being  severely  mishandled  by  the  local  authorities,  and  being  in  consequence 
destitute  of  means  to  proceed  against  them  in  law,  applied  to  Court  for  leave 
to  sue  in  forma  pauperis.  This  leave  was  granted.  Immediately  upon  this 
becoming  knoAvn  petitions  were  got  up  among  the  Boers,  with  the  result  that 
the  Volksraad  some  six  weeks  ago  took  a  resolution  instructing  the  Govern- 
ment to  immediately  bring  in  a  law  forbidding  the  judges  to  grant  such  leave, 
and  making  it  impossible  for  a  native  to  sue  Government  or  any  other  white 
person  in  forma  patiperis.  Comment  (concludes  the  correspondent  who  sets 
out  these  various  facts)  is  superfluous. 


APPENDIX  L 

59,  HoLBORN  Viaduct,  London,  E.C, 

Uh  May,  1897. 

EEPORT  ON  THE  LETTER  WRITTEN  ON  A  TORN  TELE- 
GRAM FORM  SIGNED  «  F.  R.,'  BY  MR.  T.  H.  GURRIN, 
EXPERT  IN  HANDWRITING. 

Mr.  Thomas  Henry  Gurrin,  of  59,  Holborn  Viaduct,  London,  E.G.,  is 
a  professional  expert  in  handwriting,  reoognised  and  employed  by  the 
Director  of  Public  Prosecutions,  the  Home  Office,  and  the  authorities  at 
Scotland  Yard,  and  is  constantly  engaged  by  them  in  that  capacity.  He  is 
also  frequently  engaged  in  the  same  capacity  by  the  Bank  of  England  and 
other  public  bodies. 

He  has  acted  as  handwriting  expert  in  a  very  large  number  of  civil  and 
criminal  cases  at  sessions,  assizes,  and  before  the  High  Courts,  for  over  twelve 
years  past,  and  can  conscientiously  say  that  his  experience  in  the  identifica- 
tion of  genuine  handwriting  and  the  detection  of  forged  and  altered  docu- 
ments is  very  extensive. 

Mr.  Gurrin  begs  respectfully  to  submit  the  following  report : 

*  Having  been  instructed  by  Mr.  Braunstein,  solicitor,  of  27,  Great  George 
Street,  Westminster,  I  have  examined  a  photograph  of  torn  portions  of  a 
letter  written  on  a  telegram  form  of  the  South  African  Republic. 

'My  attention  has  been  directed  to  the  evidence  of  Major  Sir  J.  C.  Wil- 
loughby,  appearing  at  page  302  of  the  Minutes,  in  which  he  has  given  hia 
version  of  the  missing  portions  of  this  document. 

'  I  have  compared  this  version  of  the  missing  words  with  the  vacant  spaces, 
and  I  find  that  the  words  supplied  in  question  5,571  would  occupy,  as  near 
as  can  be  estimated,  the  missing  spaces,  judging  from  the  other  writing  in 
the  document. 

'  I  read  the  first  portion  of  the  document  as  follows : 

'  ' '  Dear  Dr. , 

"  The  rumour  of  massacre  in 
"  Johannesburg  that  started  you  to  our 
"  relief  was  not  true.     We  are  all  right ; 
"  feeling  intense  ;  we  have  amied 
"  a  lot  of  men.     Shall  (not  '  I  shall ')  be  very  glad 
**  to  see  you.     We  are  not  in  possession  of 
"  town." 

'  Major  Sir  J.  C.  Willoughby  reads  line  6,  "  We  (or  the  Boers)."  It  cannot 
possibly  be  "the  Boers,"  as  the  first  letter  is  clearly  a  portion  of  a  capital 


APPENDIX  L  851 

"W,"  and  corresponds  with  the  first  portion  of  the  "  W"  as  made  at  line  3  ; 
and  further,  there  would  be  no  room  for  the  two  words  "  the  Boers  "  between 
the  portion  of  the  letter  "  W  "  and  the  word  "  not." 

*  Again,  I  am  of  ojjinion  that  the  last  word  in  line  6  was  "  of,"  as  there  is 
still  visible  an  ascending  curved  stroke  corresponding  to  that  with  which  the 
writer  terminates  the  letter  "  f." 

'  With  reference  to  the  rest  of  the  version  as  contained  in  question  5,573,  I 
respectfully  submit  that  the  missing  words  supplied  are  absolutely  inconsistent 
with  the  spaces  which  these  words  v;ould  occupy  if  written  naturally  by  the 
same  writer. 

'The  words  "  I  will  bring  at  least  three  hundred"  do  not  correspond  with 
the  still  existing  marks  on  line  7.  The  portion  of  a  letter  appearing  in  the 
middle  of  the  line  would  not,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  be  a  part  of  any  of  the 
words  suggested  which  would  come  at  the  centre  of  that  line.  It  might  be  a 
part  of  a  capital  "  W,"  or  an  initial  "  p,"  or  it  might  be  a  final  "  d  "  turned 
back  to  the  left,  and  the  last  letter  in  the  line  looks  as  though  it  was  intended 
for  an  "e."  In  support  of  this  theory,  I  compare  it  with  the  "e"  at  the 
end  of  the  word  "true"  in  line  3,  and  the  "e"  at  the  end  of  "intense," 
line  4.  The  writer,  when  making  a  final  "d,"  makes  the  latter  portion  of 
the  letter  something  like  this,  but  in  the  instances  in  this  document  he  exerts 
more  pressm'e  than  we  find  here — see,  for  instance,  the  "  d  "  in  "started,"  at 
line  2,  the  "  d  "  in  "  glad,"  in  line  5,  and  "  d  "  in  "  armed,"  line  4.  Besides, 
I  cannot  think  that  this  can  be  the  end  of  the  word  "  hundred,"  as,  judging 
from  the  lengtli  of  the  word  "started,"  the  word  "hundred"  would  have 
occupied  from  the  third  vertical  line,  and  this  would  certainly  leave  no  room 
for  the  other  words  suggested  in  the  version  given  by  Major  Sir  J.  C.  Wil- 
loughby,  viz.  :  "  We  will  bring  at  least,  or  about  three."  If  the  words  "  will 
send  out  some,"  or  "  we  will  send  out  some,"  are  written  in  line  7  after  the 
word  "  town,"  adopting,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  space  that  would  have  been 
occupied  by  the  writer  for  these  words,  they  will  just  fill  the  line.  In  like 
manner,  with  regard  to  line  8,  there  is  just  room  after  the  words  "men  to  " 
for  the  two  words  "  meet  you,"  and  the  small  mark  appearing  before  the  full 
stop  might  have  been  the  terminal  of  the  letter  "  u,"  but  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  get  into  this  small  space  the  words  "  meet  you  at  Krugersdorp," 
and  even  if  the  words  "  meet  you  at  "  were  omitted,  and  if  it  be  assumed  that 
the  word  which  originally  stood  there  was  "Krugersdorp,"  then  the  mark 
appearing  before  the  full  stop  coiUd  not  by  any  theory  be  construed  as  having 
been  a  portion  of  the  letter  "p,"  as  I  have  examined  various  specimens  of 
Colonel  Rhodes'  handwriting,  and  have  seen  him  write  specimens  containing 
the  letter  "  p  "  and  find  that  he  does  not  terminate  a  "  p"  with  any  stroke 
of  this  description,  but  that  he  terminates  it  inside  the  oval  portion  of  the 
letter  near  the  downstroke.  With  regard  to  the  rest  of  the  line,  the  last  two 
letters  appear  to  have  been  "  ne,"  and  there  is  a  dot  just  in  the  position  that 
would  apparently  have  been  occupied  by  the  dot  had  the  previous  letter  been 
"i."  Consequently,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  theory  that  the  words  "will 
send,"  or  "we  will  send  out  some  men  to  meet  you,"  "you  are  a  fine  fellow," 
is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  spaces  left  in  the  torn  document,  but  that  the 
theory  that  the  words  which  were  originally  in  the  spaces  were  ' '  I  will  bring 
at  least  or  about  three  hundred  men  to  meet  you  at  Krugersdorp,  you  are  a 
gallant  fellow,"  is  not  only  inconsistent  with  the  amount  of  space  available, 
but  does  not  fit  in  with  the  letters  and  portions  of  letters  still  visible. 

•T.  H.  GURRIN.' 

Contents  of  the  letter  according  to  a  statement  signed  by  Dr.  Jameson,  Sir 
John  Willoughby,  Major  Robert  White  and  Colonel  Raleigh  Grey  : 


352  APPENDICES 

'  The  rumour  of  massacre  in  Johannesburg  that  started  you  to  our  relief 
was  not  true.  Wc  are  all  right,  feeling  intense.  We  have  armed  a  lot  of 
men.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you.  We  (or  the  Boers)  are  not  in  posses- 
sion of  the  town.  I  will  bring  at  least,  or  about,  300  men  to -meet  you  at 
Krugersdorp.     You  are  a  gallant  fellow.' 

According  to  Colonel  Francis  llhodes  and  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips,  the  contents 
are  as  follows  : 

'  The  rumour  of  massacre  in  Johannesburg  that  started  you  to  our  relief  was 
not  true.  We  are  all  right,  feeling  intense.  ^Ve  have  armed  a  lot  of  men. 
Shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you.  We  are  not  in  possession  of  the  town.  We 
will  send  out  some  men  to  meet  you.     You  are  a  fine  fellow.' 

'  We,  the  undersigned,  were  present  in  the  Reform  Committee's  room  when 
Colonel  Rhodes  despatched  the  letter  to  Dr.  Jameson,  which  commences 
"Dear  Dr. — The  rumour  of  massacre,"  We  read  the  letter,  but  cannot  now 
recall  the  exact  words  on  the  missing  fragments  ;  but  we  do  hereby  declare 
on  oath  that  there  was  no  ofl'er  of  300  men,  nor  of  any  other  specific  number 
of  men,  nor  was  the  word  Krugersdorp  mentioned,.  The  spirit  of  tlie  letter 
was  to  suggest  that  a  few  men  should  or  would  be  sent  in  the  character  of  a 
complimentary  escort  to  show  Dr.  Jameson  his  camp. 

'Geo.  W.  Farrar. 
'  S.  W.  Jameson. 
'  As  witness — 

*  J.  Percy  FitzPatrick. 
'Johannesburg,  lOih  Ajrril,  1897.' 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STA3Na>ED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


APR  5  1941 M 


rr^ 


(     '<■'  TTZy^Q-fy- 


■^m- 


M\  1  ■:■  jG57^ 


^^  ^31941 MRECO  lO 


^V— 6H9S^ 


JUN24TPT 


NOV  2  3  1999 


m''" 


20Nla^55iV 


■jUK3  .  ^^55  Li 


LD  21-100m-7,'40(  6936s) 


YB  34485 


/ 


514497 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


